Sen. Roger Marshall sought funding to address a water shortage. The
project could benefit his ranch
[October 15, 2026]
By BRIAN SLODYSKO
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall wanted to solve a water
rights dispute in rural Kansas that pitted farmers against
environmentalists and threatened the health of a cherished wildlife
refuge.
The avid outdoorsman requested a $4.2 million earmark, records show, to
help finance improvements that would increase the flow of water into the
Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.
He did not mention another interest that stood to benefit from the
project: his own Rattlesnake Ranch, which borders the preserve.
For decades, hunters have flocked to Quivira and its surroundings, drawn
by hundreds of thousands of waterfowl that descend on the area every
fall. As agriculture expanded in the area, however, the water supply was
taxed to irrigate more crops, diminishing the flow into the refuge.
Marshall's efforts in 2024 to secure the earmark sought to balance the
needs of the refuge and farmers in his home state. But in doing so, he
took action that experts said could boost his property's value and posed
a conflict of interest for the Republican senator. The measure also
collided with Marshall’s strong opposition to earmarks, often called
pork-barrel spending, to fund lawmakers’ pet projects. Marshall has
voted four times to eliminate earmarks, calling such appropriations a
waste of taxpayer money and “not American.”
Though Marshall’s request to help Quivira National Wildlife Refuge was
added to a bill that did not ultimately become law, the funding was
approved last year through spending legislation he supported.
Plan will ensure refuge gets more water to help birds
Under a federal plan, water will be pumped from a separate watershed,
travel through a pipeline into Rattlesnake Creek, which is next to
Marshall’s property, and flow into the refuge, records show.
The funding came through as Marshall was gearing up for a reelection bid
this November that had once appeared assured. President Donald Trump
carried Kansas by 16%, and the state has not elected a Democrat to the
Senate since 1932.
The race has tightened, so much so that Republican groups have poured
millions of dollars into advertising to fend off Democrat Adam Hamilton,
a former Republican who leads the nation’s largest United Methodist
church.
Marshall’s office declined to make the senator available to The
Associated Press for an interview and did not respond to detailed
questions about his property.
“All the water for this project would go into Quivira Wildlife Refuge,”
spokeswoman Payton Fuller said in a brief statement. “Rattlesnake Ranch
would not benefit from it.”
She added that the project would “literally save farms” and “supply
water to the refuge in drought years.”
Watchdog group says Marshall's earmark was a conflict of interest
A water rights expert and a government watchdog group have criticized
the senator’s decision to seek the earmark as a conflict of interest.
Burke Griggs, a former state water rights attorney, said waterfowl
hunting is “big business” in Kansas and the federal funding will help
“establish a steadier water supply than (the Quivira Refuge) has had
since the 1970s.”
“That will increase the value of the land,” said Griggs, a law professor
at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, who has donated money to
Democrats. “Think about it: If Quivira doesn’t have water, we don’t have
as many ducks and waterfowl staying in that area for hunting season.
That would absolutely diminish the value of the property.”
Craig Holman, a registered lobbyist for Public Citizen, a nonprofit
advocacy group that seeks greater government accountability, said
Marshall “should not be involved in any legislative effort that provides
a direct or substantial financial benefit to himself. He should have
recused himself.”
Holman noted that Senate rules ban members from seeking earmarks in
which the “principal purpose” is to further their own financial
interests. In this case, Holman said, he did not believe the earmark
violated the rule because the project would also benefit the refuge and
farmers.
[to top of second column]
|
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., speaks at the Senate Finance Committee
confirmation hearing at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 16, 2025.
(AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
Marshall’s efforts to secure the earmark represent a departure from
a long-held stance.
He had railed against such appropriations, said his colleagues
should have to defend their earmark requests on the Senate floor and
described a Democrat-sponsored spending bill as “full of so much
pork” it was “dripping with grease.”
“I’m going to do everything I can to blow up the process so that no
one does earmarks,” he told reporters in 2021.
Though he sought an earmark in 2024, he voted in January to strip
such funding from a spending bill.
Marshall has deep ties to the Quivira Refuge area
Marshall and his family have deep ties to the region around the
preserve. He at one point owned, or co-owned, more than 1,000 acres
(405 hectares) near the Quivira Refuge and has described his land as
a hunting “mecca.”
The properties have provided a stream of income over the years
through building rentals and oil and gas leases, according to his
Senate financial disclosures.
After his election to the Senate, Marshall substantially reduced his
land holdings near the refuge, the records show.
What remains is Rattlesnake Ranch, which is registered as a business
in Kansas and listed as a commercial property with a building
available for rent, according to records. Marshall owns a 20% stake
in the ranch and serves as a company director, the records show.
Fuller, the Marshall spokeswoman, said the Rattlesnake Ranch is not
used for hunting waterfowl. She did not address a question about the
nature of the business or the commercial use of the land, which
Marshall co-owns, records show, with a group of hunting buddies and
campaign donors.
Marshall, who was elected to the Senate in 2020 after two House
terms, posts photos online of game he has killed. Regional news
stories have highlighted the senator’s preservation efforts in the
area and his hunting of sandhill cranes near the preserve. “I hunt
as often as I can,” he told Lone Star Outdoor News, according to an
article posted to his Senate website in 2022.
Marshall's earmark sought middle ground between farmers and
environmentalists
In recent years, an increasingly tense dispute between farmers and
conservationists over water rights has threatened the refuge.
Agricultural expansion and drought conditions siphoned away water
crucial for the waterfowl.
Water rights are governed in Kansas by state law. President Joe
Biden’s Democratic administration outraged farmers in 2023 when the
Fish and Wildlife Service asked Kansas to ensure the preserve got
enough water, a move that would have forced farmers and other
interests to reduce their use of it.
Marshall and other Kansas lawmakers were jubilant after the Biden
administration backed down. The lawmakers, including Marshall,
pledged to find a solution that helped the refuge in a way that
would not harm farmers, which resulted in his earmark.
“As a property owner along Rattlesnake Creek for three decades,” he
said in a statement issued at the time, “protecting our local
agricultural communities and the environment is something I take
very seriously.”
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
