KDWPT

PRATT – The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) is conducting a five-year review of the lists of Kansas species that are endangered, threatened or Species In Need of Conservation (SINC). Endangered is the most imperiled category of the three, and species on the SINC list are deemed to require conservation measures to prevent them from becoming threatened or endangered. A five-year review is required by the Kansas Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1975. Any individual or group can petition KDWPT to propose an addition, deletion, or modification to the current lists by providing pertinent scientific information required within the petition form.

KDWPT relies on the Threatened and Endangered Species Task Committee to assist with the review process. The task committee consists of seven members representing various disciplines, and include staff from state and federal agencies and state universities. To determine if a full review is warranted, the task committee examines updated scientific information and research for any species petitioned for a listing change. Species experts are consulted and all available data is evaluated during the full review. These recommendations, and any amendments to them, are published in the Kansas Register for public comment for at least 90 days. After a full review is completed, the task committee makes recommendations to the KDWPT Secretary and any changes to the lists must be approved by the KDWPT Commission following a public hearing.

At the last five-year review completed in 2014, the redbelly snake, smooth earth snake, longnose snake, spring peeper, chestnut lamprey and silverband shiner were downlisted or removed from the threatened list and added to the SINC list. The Eskimo curlew, black-capped vireo, and many-ribbed salamander were removed from the threatened list due to no evidence of viable populations in Kansas. The northern long-eared bat was added to the SINC list.

Currently, the state endangered list includes 10 invertebrates, five fish, two amphibians, two birds and two mammals. The state threatened list includes six invertebrates, 11 fish, six amphibians, four reptiles, two birds and one mammal. The state SINC list includes 83 species. For detailed information on each list, visit www.ksoutdoors.com and click “Wildlife & Nature,” then “Threatened and Endangered Species.”

Click here for a list of Threatened and Endangered (T&E) Species in Ellis County.

A recent survey conducted by Responsive Management – an internationally recognized research firm specializing in natural resource and outdoor recreation issues – found that conservation of threatened and endangered wildlife remains important among Kansans. Some interesting findings included:

• A majority of Kansas residents (91 percent) agreed that the KDWPT should continue to identify and protect habitat critical to threatened and endangered species.
• A majority (73 percent) of residents agree with the statement, “Wildlife that is threatened and endangered in Kansas yet abundant in other states should still be protected in Kansas.”

Petitions must be received by May 31, 2018 to be considered for the current five-year review. Petition forms can be downloaded at

https://ksoutdoors.com/Services/Threatened-and-Endangered-Wildlife/Five-Year-Review-of-Listed-Species and submitted electronically to [email protected] or mailed to KDWPT, Attn: ESS, 512 SE 25th Ave., Pratt, KS 67124-8174.

By DAWSON ROONEY
HHS Guidon

Science Olympiad placed second at Division C regional competition at Fort Hays State University on Thursday, Feb. 15, allowing them to continue on to the April 7 state competition at Wichita State University. To make state a school must take one of the top three spots at regional competition.

The results for the Science Olympiad regional competition are as follows:

Seniors Ashton Balthazor and Dawson Rooney placed third in Thermodynamics.

Senior Sara Rohleder and sophomore Emily Huff placed second in Astronomy.

Junior Jackson Stanton and freshman Johnathan Rupe placed second in Game On.

Seniors Eric Adams and Dawson Rooney placed second in Optics.

Freshmen Marisa Schindler and Alexis White placed third in Remote Sensing

Seniors London Keller and Analyse Claude placed second in Material Science.

Senior Taya Randle and junior Jackson Stanton placed third in Herpetology.

Sophomore Kari Satomi and freshmen Callie Raacke and Marisa Schindler placed first in Experimental Design.

Freshmen Callie Raacke and Marissa Schindler placed second in Mission Possible.

Seniors London Keller and Ashton Balthazor placed third in Chemistry Lab.

Senior Sara Rohleder and freshman Jonathan Rupe placed first in Fermi Questions.

Senior Dawson Rooney and freshman Callie Raacke placed second in Hovercraft.

Junior Johnny Fuller and freshman Alexis White placed second in Disease Detectives.

“Our team is amazing,” sophomore Kari Satomi said. “We all support each other in many ways. I believe that if our team keeps working together and working hard we will do amazing at state.”

Friday Patchy freezing fog before 10am. Cloudy, with a high near 38. Light and variable wind becoming east 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Friday Night Patchy drizzle between 8pm and 9pm, then a chance of freezing rain after 9pm. Cloudy, with a low around 27. East wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

A winter weather advisory is in effect for Ellis co. from 10P Fri until 10A Sat. Light freezing rain could lead to slick roads.#kswx pic.twitter.com/SM672CUNNT

— NWS Dodge City (@NWSDodgeCity) February 23, 2018

Saturday Freezing rain likely before 1pm, then a slight chance of rain. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 40. East wind 7 to 16 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Saturday Night A 20 percent chance of rain before 7pm. Mostly clear, with a low around 18. West wind 6 to 14 mph.

Sunday Mostly sunny, with a high near 48.

Sunday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 20.

U.S. ATTORNEY-KS

KANSAS CITY – A tax preparer from Finney County pleaded guilty Thursday to filing false federal tax returns, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said. The defendant agreed to pay restitution of more than $397,000.

Marcelino Almaraz, 60, Holcomb, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false income tax return and one count of filing a false tax return. Almaraz, who owned La Popular, a convenience store in Holcomb, also owned Accounting Services, a business that provided tax preparation and accounting services. In 2016, he was charged in an indictment alleging that customers came to him because they had heard he prepared income tax returns that generated large federal income tax refunds.

In his plea, Almaraz admitted providing false information on tax returns. In one case, he prepared a return for a client claiming four grandchildren as dependents. In fact, the grandchildren lived with the man’s wife in Mexico. In another case, Almaraz filed a false return substantially understating his own business income.

Sentencing is set for May 14. He faces a penalty of up to three years in federal prison and fine up to $250,000 on each count. McAllister commended the Internal Revenue Service, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble and John Mulcahy of the Justice Department’s Tax Division for their work on the case.