American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2015 - 153

ConventionCoverage: Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association
to wait-list people."
Also during the meeting, Nick Powell,
president of Mission, Ks.-based Colt Energy Inc., was announced 2015-17 chairman of KIOGA.
Scheck gave his final thoughts on his

tenure as KIOGA chairman at the association luncheon, Aug. 2. He remarked
that the industry had changed greatly
during his term, but said he hoped his
work with the KIOGA staff had helped
to give the association members a voice

in legislative and regulatory decisions.
"I believe KIOGA is one of the best
industry associations in the country, and
I hope I have helped keep it that way,"
Scheck emphasized.
❒

LPC Is Lasting But Manageable Issue

WICHITA, KS.-While efforts to muster
the votes to overturn the lesser prairie
chicken's listing as threatened under the
Endangered Species Act continue, the
Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association
hosted a panel during its annual meeting,
Aug. 2-4 in Wichita, on conservation
efforts and techniques oil and gas companies could employ when working near
lesser prairie chicken (LPC) habitat.
Ken White, president of Wichita-based
White Exploration Inc., revealed that the
Western Association of Fish & Wildlife
Agencies (WAFWA) had recorded the
species' rangewide population this year
at 29,000 birds. "We are seeing population
increases all across the range, except for
New Mexico," he announced. "The increase likely is the result of increased
rainfall in the other four states (Colorado,
Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas)."
However, the five states with LPC
habitat will have to sustain a population
of 67,000 birds for 10 years to reach
ideal conservation levels, he noted.
Across the bird's range, more than
96,000 acres have been reserved for
habitat by only 10 landowners, he said,
and there are 1,169 project agreements
with enrolled companies. Additionally,
WAFWA is buying 1,600 acres of highest-quality, or CHAT 1 level, habitat in
the Texas Panhandle.
Overall, White cautioned that even
though no violations had yet been reported,
operators should not ignore LPC protections. "Enrolling requires you to follow
the rules," he said. "Leks have been
found north of Interstate 70, which is
outside their traditional range. So, even
if something happens out there, you can
still get into trouble."
Operators need to be concerned with
any lease or well site within three miles
of a lek, so White suggested giving lessors
and/or tenants a questionnaire regarding
the presence of LPC leks on their property.
"Landowners almost always know whether
they have birds, and if so, where the leks
are," he reasoned.

Doug Louis, senior geologist and environmental group manager for Wichita's
GSI Engineering, shared the results of
several lek surveys his company conducted
across Kansas. Among GSI's findings,
Louis said:
* Landowners know where leks are.
* Field personnel also know where
they are.
* Leks' positions haven't changed.
* Leks typically are on large tracts
of grassland, usually atop hillsides.
Louis said his team found more chickens than it was expecting. GSI also discovered that high-quality habitat areas
did not mean there were leks or chickens.

Conversely, low-quality habitat areas did
not mean there were no leks present.
Louis said his team found chickens
near oil tank batteries and wells, and that
many birds had become accustomed to
well site equipment. "When we drove
onto a well site at a slow speed, they did
not flush," Louis commented. "But when
we stepped out of the vehicle, they
flushed."
Louis also outlined a cost/benefit
analysis for ground or listening surveys
versus aerial surveys. He said ground
surveys were inexpensive, and relatively
easy and accurate to conduct, especially
if personnel were trained to listen for the

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SEPTEMBER 2015 153
American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2015

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