Sometimes the best things hide in plain sight. If you didn’t know, Kansas was once an ocean, and a huge chunk of that history is still alive at Cheyenne Bottoms — the largest wetland in the interior United States. We sit down with Curtis Wolf, director of the Kansas Wetlands Education Center, who breaks down what actually makes something a "wetland," why this 41,000-acre basin is a lifeline for migrating shorebirds traveling thousands of miles between South America and the Arctic, and how decades of careful management keep it thriving. We also swap stories from our own family trips out there, talk monarch butterfly tagging, and wrap things up with another round of Dartography. Highlights Curtis explains the three technical requirements for a true wetland: the right soil, the right plants, and seasonal water.Cheyenne Bottoms is a 41,000-acre basin and the largest wetland in the interior U.S. — yet less than 1% of the Kansas landscape qualifies as wetland.The Kansas Wetlands Education Center opened through a partnership between Fort Hays State University, the Department of Wildlife and Parks, the City of Great Bend, and Barton Community College, funded in part through a KDOT mitigation grant.A Hudsonian Godwit tracked by researchers flew six days straight from Chile to Cheyenne Bottoms without stopping.One square meter of mud at Cheyenne Bottoms can hold up to 65,000 bloodworms — a key food source fueling migrating birds.The Center hosts around 700 programs a year, including a Second Grade Wetlands Day, summer day camps, Turtle Tots for preschoolers, and stargazing nights during the Perseid meteor shower.The annual Butterfly Festival features monarch tagging tied to the Monarch Watch program, plus a honeybee demonstration hive and seed bomb crafts.Monarchs migrating through Cheyenne Bottoms in the fall are actually the fourth generation removed from the butterflies that left Mexico that spring.Cheyenne Bottoms is managed in nine separate pools with a dike and canal system pulling water from the Arkansas River and Walnut Creek to maximize water availability for wildlife.The Nature Conservancy manages over 8,000 additional acres of the Cheyenne Bottoms basin alongside the state's 21,000 acres.Admission to the Wetlands Education Center is free.Dartography lands in Haskell County, home to Sublette, possible ties to the 1918 Spanish flu, and a starring role in Donald Worster's Dust Bowl history. Chapters 0:00 — Pen Disaster 1:30 — Wetlands Episode Intro 2:19 — Visitor Center Photo Tour 4:12 — Barton County Side Trip 6:11 — Meet Curtis Wolf 7:58 — What Is a Wetland 9:56 — How the Center Began 13:25 — Why Wetlands Matter 16:12 — Inside the Building 22:39 — Wildlife and Bird Migration 27:52 — Education Programs Highlights 29:12 — Stargazing and Camps 30:21 — Turtle Tots and Programs 30:49 — Butterfly Festival Spotlight 32:07 — Monarch Tagging Explained 33:16 — Migration Generations Story 35:33 — Festival Activities Rundown 36:18 — Birds' Impact on Wetlands 38:35 — Managing Cheyenne Bottoms 41:11 — Nature Conservancy Partnership 42:09 — Kids in the Wetlands 45:06 — Visit and Stay Connected 46:33 — Host Takeaways and Birding 49:24 — Dartography: Sublette and Haskell 54:31 — Next Dart: Northeast Kansas 55:33 — Kansans in the Wild Shoutout 56:55 — Final Credits and Signoff Resources Mentioned Fisher Space PenKansas Wetlands Education Center (Cheyenne Bottoms, near Great Bend, KS)Sunflower Summer appMonarch WatchThe Nature ConservancyQuivira National Wildlife Refuge Audubon of KansasKansas Tourism's Wetlands and Wildlife BywayDust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s by Donald Worster Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com! This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net
