MCDOWELL CREEK, Kan. - I have often wondered what the Plains Indians felt as hide hunters killed off their bison--the vast herds which were the center of their lives. These days, the poor folks along the Gulf can no doubt identify with those indigenous peoples--and the helpless rage and pain they must have felt. As plumes of oil, toxic to humans and wildlife, invade their beaches, fisheries, and wetlands, they can only stand by and watch helplessly, unable to protect what they love and live from. "I get tears in my eyes, because when you'd pull into that marsh previously, fish would jump and scurry," said one Louisiana resident (quoted in Newsweek), describing a ruined wetland. "[Afterwards,] ain't a bird, ain't a bug, nothing....Everything was dead."

Though the spill in the Gulf was an accident, and the killing of the bison was intentional, there are similarities between the two catastrophes. Both were the result of market forces too big for their actual settings. President Obama and Attorney General Holder have raised the possibility of criminal prosecutions: Given the number of safety violations that BP stands accused of, it may in fact turn out that the Gulf has been savaged by criminals.

Do you know
Don't you wonder
What's going on
Down under
You?

(David Crosby, "Déjà vu")

MCDOWELL CREEK, Kan. - As I write this, a rainy spring is expressing itself on the prairie in lush grasses and effusive flowers. But down under the ground, in darkness and invisibility, there is an even larger world, even more vibrant and various. This is the "belowground habitat," and it is the focus of increasing study. Ecologists now think the belowground habitat holds many of the secrets of the prairie's power.

MCDOWELL CREEK, Kan. - When Jan Garton passed away on November 9, 2009, one of the leading voices for conservation in Kansas was stilled.

Regarding her successful campaign to save Cheyenne Bottoms, the Hutchinson News wrote after Jan's death, "Jan Garton's life story perfectly illustrates how one person can make a difference." Jan's public actions and public words are well known.

Less well known, even by her friends, is her poetry. As Jan's executor, I had to clean out her file cabinets, and there I found writing she had never mentioned. Her poems give insight into just what it was that helped her change the world.

GREAT BEND, Kan. - The great bend in the Arkansas river is where I have decided to homestead. I live several blocks from the river itself, and enjoy taking long walks by the river. Unfortunately, these long walks do not always allow me to view the river as the awe-inspiring body of water it is. Empty beer bottles, old shoes, and plastic bags litter the viewing area. At times, the smell from the sewage plant by the river forces me to walk on the other side of town.

I am not a clean freak, but I do have respect for things that are not mine. The river does not belong to me. I share it with those in my community. As a child most of us are taught to respect the items we do not own, and to clean up after ourselves. Many of us adults forget these simple, core values as we get older. It is time we begin to remind ourselves.

WICHITA, Kan. - To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, several Wichita groups have joined with Earth Spirit Kansas for a day of fun, food, and music, Earth Fest 2010: "Just Food." The all-day event is set for Saturday, April 17, 2010, at the Wichita Water Center in Herman Hill Park, 101 E. Pawnee, Wichita, Kansas. Festivities will start at 9 a.m. and will end at 10 p.m.

The Earth Spirit Coalition Annual Project will have as a theme, "Plant Thoughts, Grow Networks, Nurture Kansas Families." One of the highlights of the event is a tour of the Wichita Water Center, which Rev. Connie Pace-Adair, Earth Spirit chair, calls "an exemplary water treatment plant."

According to Rev. Pace-Adair, the Water Center pulls polluted water from downtown Wichita and mixes it with air, ridding it of pollutants. While the treated water is not potable, it is usable for irrigation. Right now, the water is being used to irrigate Herman Hill Park.

TOPEKA, Kan. - The Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education (KACEE) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2010 Excellence in Conservation and Environmental Education Awards. Nominated by their peers, these awardees exhibit outstanding innovation, leadership and achievement, as well as collaboration and cooperation within the environmental education field. For the second year, three schools are receiving Kansas Green Schools of the Year Awards. "We are thrilled to honor these deserving individuals and organizations, who give so much of their time and are so dedicated to environmental education in Kansas," said KACEE President Schanee' Anderson, of the Sedgwick County Zoo.

MCDOWELL CREEK, Kan. - All winter long a male Northern Harrier has been hunting in our crop fields. We see him gliding close to the ground, his slender body rising and falling with the contour of the land. Back in the pasture, a female Harrier is doing the same thing. As in most hawk species, she is larger than the male, but she too appears to float effortlessly just above the grass, sometimes rising above a ridge top only to disappear behind it as she follows a Flint Hills swale. Both the gray male and the brown female sport prominent white patches above the tail.

Northern Harriers used to be called Marsh Hawks, as they often hunt in open wetlands--but "harrier" is a more accurate term, for they are by no means limited to swampy ground. In fact, they are one of the characteristic birds of the tall grass prairie. My mentor, KSU ornithologist John Zimmerman, wrote in The Birds of Konza: The Avian Ecology of the Tallgrass Prairie that the grasslands of all continents have a similar array of birds: a chicken-like bird; a dryland shorebird; small, medium, and large insectivores; and a hawk that hunts on the wing.

SALINA, Kan. - This is not about Sarah Palin. Instead, let's talk petro-states. Like Oman. And its sister state, Alaska. In 2007, Alaska produced approximately 719,000 barrels of oil per day. That puts it in the same ballpark as Egypt (710,000), Oman (718,000) and Malaysia (755,000). Its economy parallels Oman's. Its oil revenues account for about 75 percent of export earnings.

Oil rents provide 42 percent of Alaska's annual revenue, more than any other source. Without federal subsidies (the highest per capita in the nation), Alaska's oil rents would account for 53 percent of income.

HAYS, Kan. - Rising temperatures, faster evaporation rates, and more sustained drought brought on by climate change will bring stress to water resources and particularly our wetlands. Climate change is likely to affect native plant and animal species by altering key habitats such as the wetland ecosystems known as prairie potholes or playa lakes.

The new research shows that the prairies will be much more sensitive to climate warming and drying than previously thought.

COLBY, Kan. - White roofs can have the effect of cooling temperatures within buildings. As a result, depending on the local climate, the amount of energy used for space heating and air conditioning could change, which could affect both outside air temperatures and the consumption of fossil fuels such as oil and coal that are associated with global warming.

©American Geophysical Union, photo by Maria-José ViñasDepending on whether air conditioning or heating is affected more, this could either magnify or partially offset the impact of the roofs.

White roofs would reflect some of that heat back into space and cool temperatures, much as wearing a white shirt on a sunny day can be cooler than wearing a dark shirt.

Moreover, painting the roofs of buildings white has the potential to significantly cool cities and mitigate some impacts of global warming, a new study indicates.