Prairie Dunes is a highly regarded, intensively managed golf course that hosts more than 35,000 rounds of golf per year. Under the leadership of superintendent P Stan George, C.G.C.S., Prairie Dunes has achieved full certification in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program administered by Audubon International for its efforts to be environmentally responsible. Even prescribed burning of on-course grass areas is carried out when conditions allow. Sand Hills State Park is a valuable natural area under the control of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. To control woody plant invasions and maintain the dominant herbs and grasses, the park is burned periodically.
Local residents treasure the natural beauty of the sand dunes, grasslands, wetlands, and woodlands.
Located approximately four miles from Prairie Dunes, its 1,123 acres contain public walking trails accessible only to walkers and permitted horseback riders. Compared to the golf course, the park is a low-impact area with minimal human disturbance to the wildlife. Another trained observer, Paul Jantzen, and I counted and recorded by species all birds seen along the public trail in the park and near the tees, fairways, roughs, and greens on the golf course proper. To adequately sample all birds using the areas in different seasons, we performed a total of 12 censuses over three years, with five censuses occurring during the autumn, one during winter, two during spring, and four during summer. The off-course natural areas at Prairie Dunes were not censused, and all Prairie Dunes bird observations are restricted to the golf course proper.