Finney Game Refuge
Finney Game Refuge
Location: Just Southwest of Garden City on Hwy US 83. Access to the bison range is by arranged tour only. See contact.
Contact: Ph. 316/276-9400
, 888/445-4663 ext. 9400 or 800/879-9803
Perhaps
the main attraction at the Finney Refuge is it's herd of 100 or
so bison. The refuge's 3,670 acres are also one of the last remaining
examples of the Sandsage Prairie that once covered this area of Western Kansas.
Although
self guided tours are not allowed at the refuge, you can get a
good look at the bison by arranging a tour. It's also probably safer for
the public. The young bison cow (right) keeps a watchful eye out as she
nurses her baby calf. Though sluggish and docile acting, bison can move at
great speed and with good effect if provoked.
As
in life, no visit to the refuge would be complete without taking
time to stop and smell the flowers. The prairie is more than just a sea of
grass. Broadleaf plants, known as forbes, are an essential part of the
prairie ecosystem. Insects and small animals depend on them for food.
Larger animals eat the insects and smaller animals; thus the diversity of life
in the area is greatly increased.
Though
small, even the grasses have a bloom. Since they rely on
wind and not insects for pollination, the flowers are much smaller, yet still
beautiful in their own way.
As
impossible as it sounds today, the Finney Refuge was once part of
a larger area designated by the US Government as the Kansas National Forest.
Started in 1905 with 30,000 acres, the forest was an attempt to find trees which
would survive and propagate on the Great Plains. By 1915 efforts had been
so successful that more than 800,000 acres of seeding trees had been planted.
But weather runs in cycles, and as a dry cycle set in most of the trees soon
died. The project was considered a failure and given up. A
small reminder of those hopeful days of tree plantings can still be seen as
widely scattered trees at the refuge.
(My thanks to the Finney County Convention and Tourism Bureau's director Kelly Goss for giving me a tour of this beautiful and peaceful place.)