As of early-2013, much of the High Plains region is under extreme or exceptional drought. Ungerer, Crouch and Hagen discuss the significance of enrolling grassland in the NRCS Lesser Prairie Chicken Initiative. Doing so takes advantage of technical advice for deploying managed-grazing regimes to protect rangeland - both for cattle-grazing and Lesser Prairie Chicken habitat. Hagen, science advisor to the Initiative, says good rangeland management during drought will enable the landscape to recover faster once "Mother Nature turns the spigot on again."
This episode of Playa Country is the fourth in a four-part series on the NRCS Lesser Prairie Chicken Initiative. It originally aired on High Plains Public Radio June 25, 2013