USACE’s Earth Day Celebration at Topeka Zoo
Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Published April 18, 2019
The Kansas City District will be at the 2019 Earth Day Celebration at the Topeka Zoo on Saturday, 20 April. We will be highlighting our work to monitor and assist in the recovery of the federally listed endangered interior least tern and the threatened piping plover populations on the Kansas River.
Kids will have an opportunity to fly like an eagle and catch a fish for dinner while learning about the Corps role in recovering the bald eagle and the importance of water safety.
In the early 1970s the adverse impacts associated with pollution of our air, waters and lands was becoming extremely evident. Many animal and plant species were in serious decline. As an annual event, Earth Day began on April 22, 1970 for citizens to express concern for the environment and to work towards sustainable solutions to these environmental challenges.
This year the Earth Day theme is “Protect Our Species”. As part of our effort to “Protect Our Species” the Corps Kansas City District implements a comprehensive environmental stewardship program on approximately 600,000 acres of land and 198,000 acres of water associated with our 18 multipurpose lake projects and the Missouri River Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.
The Corps accomplishes much of this work in cooperation and/or consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Missouri Department of Conservation, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism, Nebraska Game & Parks Commission, Iowa Department of Natural Services and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
The District also works with many conservation organizations on projects like our Big Bottom Wetland Restoration Project with Duck Unlimited at our Kanopolis Lake Project and our Whooping Crane Migration Stopover Habitat Project where, working with biologists from the Friends of the Wild Whoopers, we’ve conducted habitat assessments and identified ways to improve whooping crane migration stopover habitat on our lakes in Kansas and Nebraska.
The Natural Resource Management staff at these projects is comprised of dedicated professionals who are committed to developing sustainable management solutions that conserve our native plant and animal species while at the same time providing opportunity for an appropriate related level of human use.
Earth Day at the Topeka Zoo is a great event for kids and adults alike and we hope you will stop by to learn what the Corps-Kansas City District is doing to “Protect Our Species”.
To learn more about the 2019 Earth Day Celebration visit: https://www.earthday.org/earthday/
To learn more about the Topeka Zoo including hours of operation, location and entrance fee please visit: http://topekazoo.org/
Contact
(816) 389-3486
CENWK-PA@usace.army.mil
Kansas City, Mo.
Release no. 19-009 Original release can be found here.
