The Governor's Flint Hills Visioning Summit May 17, 2011

[Patriot]

Just how is the governour going to get the ranchers to let people on horseback ride through their herds?

You and others say that some of us are negative, have no vision, want to keep growth & development away and are trying to stop progress.  Consider the possibility that we argue against those who keep doing the same crap that hasn't worked for years.  History is full of examples of civilizations building on local natural resources.  Use what you have the most of so to speak.  Now you and others are being the 'it'll never work' crowd.  Yes, there will be resistance, there always is.  Maybe it's that, down deep, you actually like being stuck with the status quo.  $2.8 billion is a lot of outside money being voluntarily spent in the region and it probably won't take near the taxpayer subsidies that some other forms of development need to stay afloat.  Consider the following:


Summit seeks to increase tourism in the Flint Hills

...Becky Blake, state tourism director, quoted studies that showed travelers are seeking new, affordable destinations closer to home that help them connect with their families and the land.

She said the allure is already there. In 2009 visitors spent about $2.8 billion in the region, though that study included Topeka and Wichita.

Brownback championed making the Flint Hills a major destination for equestrian trail riders. State tourism officials said it is the fastest growing of all horse-riding events.

Guided horseback trips on three Flint Hills ranches should begin in early 2012, according to Tom Warner, a Kansas State University professor who has been working on the idea for several years...

Full article:  http://www.kansas.com/2011/05/18/1853191/summit-seeks-to-increase-tourism.html

Won't work?  Looks like it already is.  Stupid idea?  We'll see.  Now, what is Elk County going to do?

[Roma Jean Turner]

What...no BIcycling of the FLint Hills.  There's a position for me.  People travel all over the world to bike a new trail.  Let's make the wind farms tourist destinations.  Put up a little educational building like they have for Big Brutus and let people have an up close experience with it.  I'm excited at the possibilities.

[Patriot]

What...no BIcycling of the FLint Hills.  There's a position for me.  People travel all over the world to bike a new trail.  Let's make the wind farms tourist destinations.  Put up a little educational building like they have for Big Brutus and let people have an up close experience with it.  I'm excited at the possibilities.

Creative thinking!  Very refreshing, Roma.  Cycle the Flint Hills... Invite tourists & tourist dollars...  Maybe an old time livery stable for the horse riders.  And we'll put in a bicycle shop or two for you too!  Heck, would you manage the new Rent-a-Bike center?   

[Wilma]

I repeat, how is the governour going to get the ranchers to let people on horseback ride through their herds? Or for that matter, people on bicycles.  Look out for the bulls and the wild mama cows.

Also, in your answer to my first post, what does your answer have to do with horseback riding through herds of cattle?

[Patriot]

I repeat, how are is the governour going to get the ranchers to let people on horseback ride through their herds? Or for that matter, people on bicycles.  Look out for the bulls and the wild mama cows.

Also, in your answer to my first post, what does your answer do with horseback riding through herds of cattle?

The 'how' is the Governor's problem.  But, if you'll take the time to read the article I referenced, you'll  see that some local resistance to the idea is anticipated.  You'll also see that some ranchers are receptive, have already supported the plan and therefore may have found ways to eliminate the mad cow problem.  Sometimes diversification isn't just about blocking off an area to raise alfalfa for hay.  There... all better now?

[thatsMRSc2u]

http://www.kansasbeautiful.com/central-kansas-tourism/23-flint-hills-flint-hills-kansas.html

List of ranches that are already doing the trailride vacation thing

http://www.flinthillsflyingw.com/riding

http://kansasflinthills.travel/destinations/agri-tourism

[Patriot]

Pam,

I won't mistakenly assume you support the concept, but thanks for the info.  Personally, I think the concept is a good use of natural resources that might help a few people back to their roots.  Other than that, it could employ one hell of a lot more than 5 or 6 people regionally.

Now, who in our little corner of the world can see any possibilities that could help Elk County?  Tourism anybody?  Or shall we wait for more manna from reverend government, the deacons of do it for my place & the multinational boys choir?

[thatsMRSc2u]

Pam,

I won't mistakenly assume you support the concept, but thanks for the info.  Personally, I think the concept is a good use of natural resources that might help a few people back to their roots.  Other than that, it could employ one hell of a lot more than 5 or 6 people regionally.

Now, who in our little corner of the world can see any possibilities that could help Elk County?  Tourism anybody?  Or shall we wait for more manna from reverend government, the deacons of do it for my place & the multinational boys choir?

Just proves your IGNORANCE of me truly Patriot...I TOTALLY approve of such ventures.

[thatsMRSc2u]

  I posted those links just for the information that it can and IS being done.

[pepelect]

 We are just like a sheep need to be herded.  If Sam says "no wind" we will now be pro road-apples and saddle up.

I think the visioning is the same as steering.  A group of government and industry people in a structured meeting with published itinerary conversing about guiding the public towards a more positive future.  It consisted of grandstanding the numbers of the projected tourism dollars.  Looking at national trends and local assets and trying to unify an entire third of the state shifting the negatives of the proposal to accentuate the positives.  Even had the gall to suggest, from one of the largest recipients of wind energy moneys in the state, that we name our personally branded bovine as Flint Hills beef to be a tag worn with honor with a promise of better relations with the ranchers if we increase the value of their toil by 20%. 

Who sponsored this event and what day did they publish their blah, blah, blah?

What's next only taking black cattle at the closest packing house to the area?  Oh....They already do that.

With the current bio security issues and there has been an outbreak of a horrid equine disease: Rhino EHV-1 (Equine Herpesvirus).  This is a mutant strain of the neurological variation of Rhino, there is no vaccine for it, and it is lethal.

So lets promote getting horses from all over the country to come together in one place for extended periods of time.



Oh, I forgot bovine aren't native to the fauna of the Tallgrass prairie.  They will be removed like the inefficient towers of avian death that they graze in the shade of.  One call to Ted and bison from Nebraska to Oklahoma.

Next week through conversations with the digital photography industry and local agricultural entities there will only be white cows allowed on the east slopes 30 minuted prior to sunset as the black ones dominate the eye in the photographs drawing attention away from the principle focus of the horizon.  This is not an enforceable law just an agreement with all parties involved.

Thursday is a summit on the governor's new line of tack and synthetic pleather saddles.  All nylon, no leather, from a subsidized Koch oil byproduct extruded by BASF in New Dehli, because killing cows is wrong in India.  One of our principle markets for rich people that have never been on horse with a good monetary exchange rate.  Mc Donalds in the aforementioned zone will now only serve curry and bean paste on a bun.  The product will launch a new partnership between the grassroots Tea party movement and the telemarketers industry.

Remember May is killed-the-terrorist month so all goat meat marketed in the Tallgrass zone is 5-11% off only until the end of the month.

When the naked PETA protesters show up in town to protest the using of a horse to carry us to the visioneering retreat will have made it.  Because we all know that after PETA shows up with the natural flesh, HSUS will come by with an undercover docu-series to spout some dribble about the colon cleansing tofu that is being made from the best Brazilian soy that has more protein than any farm raised chemically altered chicken, pig, or cow and protest that there is a confinement hog operation with-in the voluntary Tallgrass no profit zone.   

I was wondering who was going the buy all the back-stocked tins of imported caviar, now I will rest assured Sam has us down the head-to-tail guided trail of enlightenment.