Great Bend, KS- Cheyenne Bottoms was used in the mid-1940s during the height of WWII and was known as the Great Bend Air-to Ground Gunnery Range. All types of munitions were used including bombs, chemical weapons, and large-caliber artillery where many were not recovered.
Mandy Kern, the Kansas Wetlands Education Center Program Specialist said given the dry conditions at the bottoms, the WILD Club will have a treasure hunt in search of old WWII shells on Saturday August 27th at 4PM.
Kern said since there is no water right now and very few birds are there during the fall migration time, it’s the perfect opportunity to explore.
Before the hunt begins, Kern said the kids will get a brief history lesson and then be able to keep any of the shells, and casings they find.
Next month, Hunt said is all about the butterflies, which is one of the largest activities they hold each year which will be held September 17th.
Each tag will have a special code for each butterfly that will say that this butterfly was found in Cheyanne Bottoms and then figure out if the Monarch is male or female and then release it so researches will know which butterflies made it from Great Bend, Kansas down to Mexico.
For more information, call the KWEC at (877) 243-9268.
Janet Schnell covers state and local news for KFRM and KCLY. You can follow the KCLY or KFRM Facebook page for more stories.
KFRM covers news from across the state of Kansas, the Northern part of Oklahoma, and Southern part of Nebraska.
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