Open House March 9th - ksoutdoors.com

Kansas State Park Pass-ports are annual vehicle permits that will allow Kansans access into any park throughout the state. Passports will make enjoy-ing our state parks more affordable and much more convenient. With a pass-port, families can enjoy a year full of adventure and outdoor activities. Kansans will be able to purchase their passport during their motor vehicle registration process. This will need to be renewed every year during this process. By law, passports are non-transferable to an-other vehicle.

This year’s annual open house will be held on Saturday March 9th from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. The day will start with a breakfast sponsored by the Friends of the park as a fundraiser for the July 2nd fireworks. Breakfast will be served from 8:00 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. at the park office. The park office will be open this day as well for all your preseason permit needs and help will be available for mak-ing reservations. Finally, cabin tours, facility tours, and boat inspections will be offered this day for anyone interested. For more information you may call the park office.

Park News~Kansas State Parks Passport I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

Naturalist

Activities 2

Meet the

AmeriCorps 2

Friends Win

1st Place 2

Campsite

Reservations 3

Winter

Activities and

Projects

3

Winter

Activities

Continued

4

Farlington

Fish

Hatchery

6

Open House March 9th !!!

Crawford State Park

# 1 Lake Road, Farlington KS 66734 Phone 620-362-3671 Email [email protected]

M A R C H 2 0 1 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

If you purchase your an-nual park permit before you register your vehicle, a pro-rated refund may be requested after you have purchased your passport. Refund forms are avail-able at any KDWPT state park office or through ksoutdoors.com.

Passports will cost $15.00, with a possible $.50 trans-action fee. This is $10.00

less than purchasing your permit through a KDWPT office or website. For more information re-garding park passports, contact: Pratt Operations Office (620) 672-5911

Scan for Kansas State Parks Passport Information

P A G E 2

Team Member George

Stonerock renovating

an ATV.

Kayaking on Satur-

day Morning

Meet the AmeriCorps Team!

The Friends of Crawford State Park Win First Place !

Naturalist Activities to Begin in May Park programming is set to start in mid May. We are getting ready for our 24th season of interpretive programming which will include such favorites as, Friday Night at the Movies, Sat-urday Morning Kayaking, Hatchery Tours, Hikes and Sand Castles on the Beach. These popular programs will begin May 18th and continue on through the end of July. If you have a group visiting the park and want a special program,

contact Chris at the park of-fice at 620-362-3671. All Crawford State Park pro-grams are lead by the Park’s AmeriCorps Team.

out in Christmas lights pulling Friends President Dustin Speith on a tube, skiing behind the boat. We thought this lake themed entry would win, but no….., we ended up with second place. So with renewed determina-tion we set out for this year’s competition. A two trailer float depicting a

To promote the park and the many activities the Friends of Crawford State Park do, and also just for fun, this is the second year the Friends participated in the Girard Christmas Pa-rade. Now last year we went into the float compe-tition determined to win. Our entry was Doug Lopeman’s boat trimmed

campground scene was developed. The first with an illuminated tent and campfire with the riders roasting hot dogs next to a Christmas tree, followed by a camping trailer with Santa peeking out the door. Our efforts paid off with a first place win! So what will we do next year? We will have to see!

disaster response to fa-cility renovations. Over the years this program has turned into a valu-able asset for park op-erations and our present and past teams have par-ticipated in all of the cur-rent park’s renovations

and programs. The cur-rent team members are George Stonerock, Peggy Vinze, Dan Dunston, Clyde Killion, and Chris Goble. Next time you see them, give a shout out of thanks for all they do.

This is the 14th year for the park to participate in the AmeriCorps Pro-gram. All Team Mem-bers have signed on for a term of volunteer ser-vice between 300 and 1700 hours which in-clude everything from

C R A W F O R D S T A T E P A R K

Campsite Reservations P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

Last spring, the Parks Di-

vision launched our Out-

door Recreation Manage-

ment System (ORMS).

Though often called a

“reservation system,”

ORMS is much more. It

allows users to reserve

campsites from the com-

fort of their home com-

puters or look online to see

a photo of each campsite

and whether or not that

site is rented. ORMS, in

most cases, saves our cus-

tomers time and money.

Park staff can look within

the system to see what sites

are full and who is on that

site. This makes emergency

notifications much faster.

Staff can mark sites that

have issues as unavailable,

such as off-line breakers or

broken hydrants, and put

them back online as they are

repaired. For the first time,

we will have data at our fin-

gertips that tells us what sites

are rented most often and

which ones see little use,

enabling us to make manage-

ment deci-

sions about

how many

sites need

upgrades or which campgrounds

need a change in use.

For the 2013 season, the program

has been expanded to include sev-

eral additional campsites in Oak

Point. This was a result of requests

by many who wish to reserve in

this campground. We hope that this

change will make it easier to plan

your trips to our park.

Reserve a campsite TODAY at

www.reserveamerica.com!

the late 1960’s, it was an energy inefficient space that was not a friendly work environment.

We are often asked, ”So exactly what do you guys do in the winter months?”

The answer to that question is broad, but the basic answer is we put the park back in shape for users to enjoy the next sea-son. So, what have we been doing this winter? First, our big project was a much needed renovation of the park mainte-nance shop. This is the support facility which is the staging area for all park operations. Built in

Working as part of an energy efficiency grant, our Ameri-Corps Team and Park staff moved everything from this facility in late September. A team from Ameresco came in added liner panels, insulation, updated lighting, and added a new wood heat system. The result was amazing! We then put all the tools, cabin sup-plies, etc. back in a new, more user friendly order. Our team also worked on the exterior of the building sealing the roof and giving the front a new coat of paint. This upgrade to our main facility allows staff to better service all of the park grounds and recreational facilities.

Winter Activities and Projects

Before

After

After

P A G E 4

Other Things

Winter Projects Continued It is not a glamorous job, but keep-ing our shower buildings looking clean and new is an important part of park operations. This fall our staff and AmeriCorps Team reno-vated the walls and floors of the Lake View Area shower house. The project consisted of steam cleaning the interior of the building, remov-ing grime and old paint, then painting all surfaces and putting down anti– slip material. This was the last of the three park buildings to get a face lift and will be open for users in March of 2013.

Cabins are a favorite of park users and enjoy high occu-pancy. On average our cabins have someone in them about 50% of the time, or someone every other night. To keep

them ready for the prime season, each fall they get the exterior stained and the floors waxed. This winter, as a result of user requests, dishwashers were added. This new amen-ity is sure to please all of our guests.

While our team completes many other park projects in the winter months, we also do things that have a statewide impact. One we are very proud of is the displays promoting the park passport program. One hundred and fifty of these were built by our AmeriCorps Team and are featured in County Treasurers offices across the state.

tion, will be added to shelter the facility. Com-plete with lights, this fa-cility will be ready for users this spring.

Hazard trees are always a con-cern in our campgrounds and each winter a survey is conducted look-ing for snags or center rotted trees. Once identified, they are removed and most are used for fire wood to heat the shop.

The park entrance is getting a face lift as you will notice when you come in. The center piece is the new self pay station. Complete with park maps and new in-formational signs, this new facility is functional and blends in with the natural surroundings. When complete a new pergolas-style cover, cur-rently under construc-

C R A W F O R D S T A T E P A R K

When driving through the park say, “Hi! and Thanks!” to the Bakers and other volunteers who maintain all of the flower beds!

A Note from our Neighbors P A G E 5 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

The interactive guide along with the advanced GPS mapping technology provides park goers with valuable information for planning that perfect trip to any state park, making it easy for anyone to choose an adventure of their choice. The app allows users to keep abreast of weather conditions, view state-surveyed

Ranger® mobile app by Parks by Nature Network serves as an interactive State Parks tour guide accessible through today's leading mobile devices. It is built with the most up-to-date visitor information, and de-signed for both the novice out-doorsmen and the more sea-soned park-goer.

trails, and more—directly from their mobile device!

Scan for Kansas State Parks Pocket Ranger® mobile

estry, Fish & Game Commis-sion. The first year Kansas op-erated the hatchery was 1972. Farlington grows primarily fingerling fish. Species reared vary from year to year but in-clude; sauger, saugeye, walleye, striped bass, wiper, largemouth bass, redear sunfish, hybrid sun-fish, channel catfish, blue cat-

fish, koi and fathead minnows. In an average year the hatchery will produce around 2 million (35,000 pounds) fingerling fish for stocking in Kansas waters . Fish from Farlington are stocked throughout the state of Kansas, not just locally. Weekend tours are held on holiday weekends and by appointment. You can call (620) 362-4166 to arrange a tour.

The Farlington Fish Hatch-ery is located next to Crawford State Park and operated by the Fisheries Division of the De-partment of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism. The hatchery was built, starting in 1939, by what is now the US Fish & Wildlife Service. They operated the hatchery until 1969 when it was turned over to the Kansas For-

Caption

describing

picture or

graphic.

Pocket Ranger Smart Phone App

Largemouth Bass fin‐

gerlings being har‐

vested from  “kettle” 

from  pond #21.  The 

fish are loaded into 

buckets to be carried  up 

to truck tanks for trans‐

port.  Below  is Randy 

Nelson giving a tour. 

The Friends of Crawford State Park are a citizen support organization dedi-cated to the enhancement of the park facilities and recreational opportunities within the park. The Friends sponsor many annual special events such as the CASI Chili Cook Off and Old-Fashion 4th of July Fireworks. They have oper-ated the park’s Marina Restaurant concession, helped provide resources for playground developments, the CCC Memorial, trails, and campground en-hancements. The Friends is a vital organization that is a valuable partner to the park. This group meets on the third Wednesday of each month at the lake and would like to have you as part of the team. To become a member, fill out the application below and send to Lila Forrest. Your support will be appreciated!

Crawford State Park is a 530 acre public rec-

reational area operated by the Kansas Depart-

ment of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism. Within

the park are 174 utility campsites, 28 primitive

campsites, 2 group use areas, 4 hiking trails and

a day use area with swimming beach and play-

ground. We have been offering family oriented

outdoor recreation since 1934.

Crawford State Park #1 Lake Road

Farlington, KS 66734

The Friends of Crawford State Park

The adventure is in your back yard!

We are on the web at ksoutdoors.com

For additional information about becoming a member of the Friends of Crawford State Park, contact:

Dustin Speith—President 893 West Lake Road Farlington, KS 66734 620-362-3160

Annual Single Dues $5.00 Family Dues $10.00

Names:___________________________________________________ Address:__________________________________________________ E-mail:___________________________________________________ Phone number:______________________________________________ Mail to : Lila Forrest Treasurer 93 West Lake Road Farlington, KS 66734