Ashland rancher Mark Gardiner is convinced the Idaho organization responsible for implementing a conservation program for the lesser prairie chicken in Kansas and four other states engaged in mismanagement that failed the colorful bird while squandering millions of dollars and valuable years of opportunity. Gardiner, who works with the family's prominent Angus herd and 40,000-acre operation in southwest Kansas amid prime grassland for the prairie chicken, said that conclusion was backed by an independent audit of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, headquartered in Boise, Idaho...
