Technology has taken root in the backwoods of Kansas.
The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism has created a Facebook page. The innovation gives Kansans a better idea of what game wardens, and other employees, do. It also has brought attention to concerns that might otherwise have fallen into a brook and floated to oblivion.
The KDWPT is short several field officers and has difficulties keeping fully staffed because its wages are among the lowest in the nation.
Realities of Facebook may help overcome that. As the second-most visited Facebook page among Kansas law enforcement entities, the KDWPT site shows its value as a public relations tool and as a source of information for outdoor enthusiasts.
That is particularly true of the understaffed law enforcement arm, which often has to deal with missteps that occur far off heavily traveled roads or in desolate areas.
“We really needed a niche like this,” Game Warden Dan Melson told the Wichita Eagle.
“LAW ENFORCEMENT” usually paints a mind’s eye image of a KHP trooper or a local police officer enforcing traffic laws or chasing after crooks.
Enforcement of hunting and fishing laws, as well as those to do with parks, also are important.
Harvesting animals or fish must be regulated or some species risk extinction, or at least becoming so rare that their progeny may be called into question.
Once upon a time, buffalo were so numerous that miles-long herds could be seen moving across the horizon. Now, only a handful are kept in captivity — publicly and on some farms — in Kansas. Conversely, through efforts of such agencies as the KDWPT deer and wild turkey numbers are greater today than they may have been when Kansas was unspoiled by human hands.
Thus, by adapting to Facebook and other technological opportunities, environmentalists and state agents have made the state a more likable place to live.
— Bob Johnson
