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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a program that it says could preserve up to 1 million acres of tallgrass prairie in the Flint Hills.

The service is studying the possibility of buying voluntary conservation easements in 14 Kansas counties. The land could not be developed for residential or commercial use.

But the Fish and Wildlife Service says participating landowners would have control over daily operations of their land, and would be able to pass it on or sell it.

Amy Thornburg, with the Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver, says the plan is still being developed. She says it also might govern how many and where wind-energy operations could be located.

Only about 2 to 4 percent of the nation’s prairie remains, and much of it is in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

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Information from: The Wichita Eagle, http://www.kansas.com

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)