Allenbrands, O'Briens to take home conservation awards from local district

The Bourbon County Conservation District has announced the winners of the Kansas Banker's Award for water quality and the county award for wildlife conservation. The awards are scheduled to be presented at Saturday night's annual meeting of the Bourbon County Conservation District.

Donny and Pam Allenbrand, Olathe, are the recipients of the Bourbon County Wildlife Conservation award. The Allenbrands use their 320 acres in Bourbon County for hunting and recreational use.

"My love is hunting, I don't play golf," Donny said.

Donny said he does not often kill the animals, he likes to watch them and take photographs.

According to Donny, they chose Bourbon County for its reputation for deer and turkey hunting. He also said the county used to be known for its quail.

To help rebuild the animal habitats, the Allenbrands have removed some vegetation and replanted natural bushes and other vegetation as well as building some food lots. According to Donny, the goals for the land were to improve the deer and turkey population but also to rebuild the quail population. Throughout the seven years the Allenbrands have been working on the property, they have seen a great improvement in the wildlife population.

"The deer and turkey have tremendously improved," Donny said. "I've just started on the quail habitat."

The Allenbrands are happy to receive the recognition.

"It was a real shock and surprise, I really appreciate it," Donny said.

Donny added that he would like to see more people out doing what he has done. He said there is a lot of rough land out there that people could easily rebuild into wildlife habitats.

Kerry and Tammie O'Brien, Hepler, are being awarded the Kansas Banker's Award for Water Quality. The O'Briens are the operators of the O'Brien Cattle Company.

The O'Briens have been working for about five years to improve the water quality on their land.

The improvements consist of adding water supply tanks and other alternative sources of water for their cattle as well as fencing to keep the cattle out of the ponds and streams.

According to Kerry, there has been a great improvement in the water and the stream banks, including an increase in vegetation on the banks. He also said the improvements to the water quality have also yielded improvements in the amount and quality of beef produced on his farm.

An increase in quality of beef was not the primary goal for the O'Briens when they began to improve their water quality. Kerry said he wanted to be proactive and improve the quality for future generations.

The O'Briens remain grounded despite receiving the award.

"It's an honor," Kerry said. "I'm sure there's other ranches that are more deserving."

Look in future editions of The Tribune for more award winner profiles.