Conservation Easements: Preserving Ranching Heritage in Central Kansas Hill Country

Credit ks-mo-hunt.org

Chester Peterson, Jr., of Lindsborg, Kansas, owns grass and cropland on the western margin of the Flinthills, a rolling landscape of tall- and shortgrass prairie largely unchanged since settlers crossed it in the 1860s.

He wanted to keep the land perpetually free from subdevelopment, petroleum wells, wind turbines and cellular towers. He contracted land easements with the Ranchland Trust of Kansas. That organization,  created by the Kansas Livestock Association, is tasked  with preserving Kansas ranching heritage and open spaces for future generations. This story is part four of a four-part series on easements. It originally aired May 7, 2013.