SITE VISIT OPTION
New in 2026! KNRC is please to offer a site visit featuring hands-on learning and small-group education from professionals in the field.
Milford Fish Hatchery Site Visit
Thursday, February 5, 2026 | 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Location: Participants will meet at the hatchery: Hatchery Dr, Junction City, KS 66441
Join us for an inside look at the Milford Fish Hatchery, where adaptability is part of the daily workflow. In a year when many of us have been rearranging and shifting priorities, this visit highlights an operation that does the same—constantly. Participants will explore how hatchery staff respond to fluctuating demand, changes in parent-stock availability, funding impacts, and the inherent risks that come with maintaining complex systems like pumps and water flow. This site visit offers a firsthand understanding of the dynamic work that keeps Kansas waters thriving.
Cost: Free
Registration limited to 20 attendees.
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP OPTIONS
Workshop A: Using Virtual Fence Technology to Enhance Conservation OutcomesThursday, February 5, 2026 | 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Location: Hilton Garden Inn/Manhattan Conference Center
Technical innovations can provide novel approaches that help address the challenges facing Kansas’ natural resources. As we work to balance multiple goals, knowing when, where, and how new technology can be effective is important. Virtual fence technology is an emerging tool that allows producers to manipulate cattle movement and space use through GPS-controlled collars. Initially developed to increase ranching efficiency and productivity, virtual fence provides multiple new opportunities for flexibility and efficiency that allows producers to incorporate natural resource conservation while meeting their economic needs.
This hands-on, interactive, workshop invites participants to learn about virtual fence to implement natural resource management goals. We will provide information for producers and practitioners that will help identify when and how virtual fence may be useful, and what challenges and opportunities virtual fence presents.
At this workshop participants will:
- Learn about virtual fence technology, how it can be used, and how it is similar to and different from other land management tools.
- Work in small groups to devise management plans that simultaneously addresses economic and natural resource management goals using virtual fence.
- Engage with producers about their experiences using virtual fence in their approaches to land management via panel discussions.
This workshop is hosted by Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition (KGLC). Prior to the workshop, participants will receive an agenda and background information about virtual fence technology. Participants will also be asked to fill out a brief survey that will help us assign groups based on your interests in natural resource management goals.
Questions? Please contact Theo Michaels at theom@ksu.edu
Cost: $20.00
Registration limited to 50 attendees.
Refreshments provided.
Workshop B: Newly Available Decision Support Tools for Grassland Bird Conservation: Understanding Their Development and Intended Uses
Thursday, February 5, 2026 | 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Location: Hilton Garden Inn/Manhattan Conference Center
The IMBCR (Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions) program is a west-wide breeding bird monitoring program that has been in existence since 2008 and has been implemented in the short and mixed grass prairie regions of Kansas since 2016. The IMBCR protocol uses a spatially balanced sampling design to allocate 1km2 sample units evenly across a landscape (Pavlacky et all. 2017). IMBCR data can be used to calculate density, occupancy, and trend estimates for hundreds of bird species. Because of the widespread data collection, these data have been used to answer broad-scale conservation questions and develop decision support tools.
Presented by:
Anne Bartuszevige, Conservation Science Director, Playa Lakes Joint Venture
Chris Latimer, Research Director, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Jen Timmer, Science Delivery Lead, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Cost: $20.00
