Photo By Sara Goodeyon | Japanese Millet, a warm season annual grass that tolerates wet soil conditions, grows...... read more read more
TULSA, Okla. — “They” begin calling in July, asking if “it” is done yet. “They” are hunters and sportsmen from around the country. “It” is the annual millet seeding of Kaw Lake in north central Oklahoma, and it is a major factor in the vitality and popularity of the lake.
Japanese Millet, a warm season annual grass that tolerates wet soil conditions, is sown over 2,100 acres of mud flats at the lake via a spray plane in late July or early August. It yields a high-quality seed that attracts an array of waterfowl, which in turn attracts hunters from across the nation.
“This will be a buffet of sorts for the waterfowl,” said Ron Folks, state biologist and manager of the Kaw Wildlife Management Area, standing in the midst of a swath of hip-high millet at the north end of Kaw Lake. “They’ll be able to just swim around here after the lake level is raised, and eat the millet as it floats in the water.”
Folks began the millet seeding program at Oologah Lake in 1974 and brought it to Kaw because it is a perfect location for the program. Kaw Lake is unique in that it generally has a good in-flow of water, and there is no demand for hydropower. That means the Tulsa District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the lake, can draw down the water level, exposing the mud flats for the seeding, and then raise it incrementally after the millet matures at a height of three to five feet to create that “buffet” Folks mentioned.
“Just before the first frost, we’ll bring up the lake four inches per week, and when the water is flooded in with the food from the millet it will create a buffet that will hold the ducks here at Kaw,” said Folks.
Tens-of-thousands of ducks have flocked to the lake in previous years, and the hunters have followed them there, making Kaw a popular spot for waterfowl hunting.
“We have had hunters from at least 32 states, some from as far away as South Carolina, coming to Kaw for the waterfowl season,” said Folks. “Many of them bring their families with them and stay for a couple of weeks in the neighboring communities.”
All of those hunters must also purchase licenses. The Kaw Lake waterfowl season is federally protected because waterfowl are federally protected, said Jim Anderson, a Corps park ranger based at Kaw Lake. The sportsmen must buy a federal stamp, a state stamp and an Oklahoma license in order to hunt at Kaw, said Anderson.
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation spent $30,000 to plant the millet this year and that expenditure will likely bring a lot of income into the state and the communities surrounding Kaw. And as much as there is a huge financial benefit to the local communities from the program, there is an environmental benefit as well.
“The millet helps provide a natural filter at the north end of the lake where the Arkansas River flows in,” said Anderson. “The millet seeding has also built up the mud flats so that over time willow trees have taken root there, and the trees and the millet help slow the process of sedimentation at the lake.”
Anderson said that blue catfish also feed on the millet, helping give Kaw a reputation as the best place in the state to fish for blue cats. The millet continues to provide a source of food long after the ducks have gone, as small fish feed on the decomposing stalks later in the year.
The millet program is a multi-agency effort involving the Corps, ODWC, and the Oklahoma Department of Fish and Wildlife.
| Date Taken: | 10.11.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 10.31.2011 15:36 |
| Story ID: | 79337 |
| Location: | KAW LAKE, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Web Views: | 600 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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