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Cheyenne Bottoms is a wetland in the central Great Plains of North America. Occupying approximately in central Kansas, it is the largest wetland in the interior United States.〔〔 The Bottoms is a critical stopping point on the Central Flyway for millions of birds which migrate through the region annually. ==History== According to legend, a battle in 1825 between the Cheyenne and the Kiowa (or Pawnee) turned one of the streams blood red. Blood Creek now flows into the lowlands. Greyhound racing in the United States traces its start to a coursing event in the bottoms in 1886.〔(of the Greyhound and Greyhound Racing – The Greyhound Review, February 2006 )〕 In 1900, a project known as the Koen Ditch attempted to divert Arkansas River water to the Bottoms so that it could be used for irrigation. The ditch washed out in a flood. During the 1920s, various plans were put forth to drain the Bottoms and convert it to farmland. However, residents downstream in Hutchinson, Kansas protested that doing so would create flooding problems for them. In 1925, the Kansas Forestry, Fish and Game Commission was created to develop and care for the Bottoms. In August 1927, of rain upstream turned it overnight into "Lake Cheyenne" and caused flooding downstream of Little Cheyenne Creek. Kansas politicians including Clifford Hope, Charles Curtis, Henry Allen and Arthur Capper made an unsuccessful plea to get federal money to convert it into a National Wildlife Refuge.〔 Following the Pittman–Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937, which taxed sporting arms and ammunition, funds became available to develop the Bottoms.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = cheyennebottoms.net )〕 In 1952, after the construction of dikes, roads and hunting blinds, part of the area was opened to public hunting. In 1957, a new canal from the Arkansas River was built. However, relatively little water from the Arkansas was pumped into the wetland because of drought and claims by other entities on the water supply. In the 1990s, an extensive renovation subdivided the marshes. The renovations allowed the marshes to be more self-sustaining, although an adequate water supply and management of water levels continue to be critical problems.〔〔http://www.wetlands.org/RSIS/_COP9Directory/Directory/4US007.html, accessed Mar 4, 2011〕 Also in the 1990s, The Nature Conservancy began acquiring land adjacent to the state wildlife area.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cheyenne Bottoms」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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