1945 Windbreaks: Natural Erosion Control - webapps8

dogs and other wildlife. But then came
the western movement and the moldboard
plow. Before long, vast expanses
of prairie were replaced by corn and
wheat. Cattle and sheep often overgrazed
vegetation that was not plowed
under.
The importance of trees on the
open prairie was recognized as early as
1873 with passage of the Timber
Culture Act. This bill offered homesteaders
160 acres if they would plant
trees on 40 acres. The Act was repealed
less than two decades later, but
not before millions of trees had been
planted.
Meanwhile, taming of the wild
prairie continued. More land was converted
to crops so that, by the end of
the century, the frontier was virtually
closed.
Dirty Thirties. It didn't take long
before Americans began to pay the
price for destroying the prairie grasses
and flowers which had held the dry,
sandy soil in place. And the price was
high—the infamous dust bowl of the
1930s. Drought came to the prairies.
Older farmers still tell of dust clouds
hundreds of feet high, burying
machinery and fence lines in drifts of
soil. With farm prices at rock bottom
because of the depression, the drought
forced many farmers off the land.
The federal government declared
war on the devastating erosion by
establishing the Prairie States Forestry
Project in 1935. The project provided
money for the Work Progress Administration
(WPA) and the Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC) to plant trees for
erosion control. From 1935 to 1942,
more than 200 million trees and
shrubs were planted from Texas to
Minnesota and from the Rocky Mountains
to the eastern border of
Nebraska. More than 238,000 acres
were planted to windbreaks.
These shelterbelts proved invaluable.
They broke the force of the
ever-present prairie wind, protecting
soil particles along with newly-planted
seed and young plants. The windbreaks
reduced evaporation from the
soil and trapped snow during winter,
saving moisture for the coming growing
season. They beautified the landscape
and improved living conditions
for humans, livestock, and wildlife.
But once again man is changing the
pattern of the prairie. With renewed
emphasis on expanded farm production,
higher land values and resulting
higher taxes, farmers are striving to get
the most from their acres. The recent
drought, for example, catalyzed a
boom in farmland irrigation on sandy
soils.
Today, many people fear that, as
irrigation grows, the windbreak will go
the way of the big bluestem and the
prairie conefiower. Many shelterbelts
are in the way of the sweep of center
pivot irrigation systems, and thus are
being wholly or partially removed.
Windbreak removal is not a serious
problem in Minnesota, but it is occurring
in the southern plains states
where snow retention is not a factor
)ANUA RY —FEBRUARY 1978 37