I could hear the telling clunk, clunk, clunk of the bulldozer even from my house. And by the time I got up the hill to see the machine, I could see it: the heap of trees so common to see in Iowa, a mass of perfectly healthy beings who, just moments before, were standing tall in the wind, now mounded together to be set on fire as soon as they are dry enough to burn.
Heartbreaking!! Regularly when driving with my partner, a born and raised Iowan, she breathes a sigh mixed with contentment, yearning for bygone days, grief and rage when we pass a winding creek bed lined with oaks, walnuts and cottonwoods (I’m pretty sure,) and she tells me how the landscape as changed in the last 50 years of her life, riding on and driving these roads. All for a little more poison in the air and the possibility of a few more dollars.
I know how hard it is for you to witness the devastation that goes on around us. As I wrote a couple of substacks ago, I witnessed my neighbor doing the same thing - and he’s considered and admired for being a conservation farmer. When oh when will this stop. Our government programs should be about healing the land, not raping her.
Robin Wall Kimmerer, in her book, Braiding Sweetgrass, relates that her people refer to "tree" as a feminine noun rather than our neuter noun -- "she" instead of "it". They had it right.
Please keep calling out these desecrations, Beth. You and other truth-tellers are moving the majority of us toward the tipping point, where we demand responsible and respectful nurturing of our land , air and water
Yes, it is time for more attention to these problems, but we need to think deeply about how to improve the situation. The conservation programs that already exist could be constructed better. But we also are in desperate need of staffing and money put into the USDA offices where farmers go to enroll in programs. These offices are in every county in the state and are great places for information to be passed along...but only if there are people working in them who can help.
Yes, I know that sound. Even as our native landscape of Mixed hardwoods and Sabal palmettos are almost entirely gone from the landscape, ranchers and farmers in the area where I live still take pride in “clearing the land”. All the heartache about losing forests in the Amazon and Indonesia and (almost) no one notices when it’s getting bulldozed right here at home. Thanks for noticing. And, plant ten trees for every one your neighbor knocked down ;-)
Your heart is in the right place, but your knowledge is sadly lacking. The picture you shared showed two large piles of diseased and dead wood. I saw no dozing of live trees or trees an arborist would consider valuable or worth keeping. We as farmers are about conserving our land and not destroying it. Proper forestry practices rely on clearing out diseased and dead wood. Letting everything dead pile up is a recipe for disaster when fire starts. Think California and Canada wildfires. Have you taken time to actually talk with your neighbors? We have created biofilters using wood chips and the water leaving our properties is cleaner than when it arrives. Checkout farmers.gov for more information.
Sorry to disagree--but they were definitely knocking down healthy trees along the fence line, and I have seen the same practice many, many times in just my few years living in rural Iowa. Yes, I talk with my neighbors (as you would know if you have read my articles in the past, and my book). And are you really arguing that farmers do not clear land of trees to plant? I am confused--it has been a common practice in the past and present.
In fact, as I thought about it--my own father-in-law (from who we transitioned the farm from 6 years ago) pushed healthy trees down into the very same piles to clear land for grazing. My neighbors are not clearing the land for fire protection--this I guarantee you.
Your patronizing remarks are offensive. Maybe you as a farmer are about conservation. Thank you. Not all farmers are like you. Most are caught on an exhausting treadmill of stripping the land for marginal gain.
You’re bound to know that dead and diseased trees have just as much value in a forest as do “healthy” trees. In fact a forest without trees falling down is not a forest, it’s a plantation. And Iowa is not California or Canada and that creek bottom of trees IS the biofilter. Hence the sadness and frustration when seeing it go.
Your article was horrifying on so many levels. But then to learn Iowa “is the most altered state in the union” was a stunning fact — and not in remotely any good way. I remember back in 1990 when I was in Amazon rain forest in Equador traveling with a guide in a canoe. Suddenly you’d hear the distinct & destructive sound of chain saws clearing trees and bulldozing the land. Rhetorical question: What is WRONG with us not to appreciate and preserve nature which protects us? Really interesting piece Beth! Wish it was a more optimistic picture in the long term
Ah yes, optimism!! I will note that there does seem to be an increasing number of us and you (readers) who care deeply about these issues. That gives me hope. And we are starting to work together in very effective ways--more on that in my next post! Thanks for reading.
AAARRRGGGGHHH!
I feel your sadness and join you. It is heartbreaking.
Heartbreaking!! Regularly when driving with my partner, a born and raised Iowan, she breathes a sigh mixed with contentment, yearning for bygone days, grief and rage when we pass a winding creek bed lined with oaks, walnuts and cottonwoods (I’m pretty sure,) and she tells me how the landscape as changed in the last 50 years of her life, riding on and driving these roads. All for a little more poison in the air and the possibility of a few more dollars.
Here is my substack before the trees and shrubs were leaved out.
https://open.substack.com/pub/rollingacresfarm/p/does-the-land-really-matter?r=accxi&utm_medium=ios
I know how hard it is for you to witness the devastation that goes on around us. As I wrote a couple of substacks ago, I witnessed my neighbor doing the same thing - and he’s considered and admired for being a conservation farmer. When oh when will this stop. Our government programs should be about healing the land, not raping her.
Denise--will you put the link to that article here for all to read? Thanks!
Robin Wall Kimmerer, in her book, Braiding Sweetgrass, relates that her people refer to "tree" as a feminine noun rather than our neuter noun -- "she" instead of "it". They had it right.
Please keep calling out these desecrations, Beth. You and other truth-tellers are moving the majority of us toward the tipping point, where we demand responsible and respectful nurturing of our land , air and water
Yes, it is time for more attention to these problems, but we need to think deeply about how to improve the situation. The conservation programs that already exist could be constructed better. But we also are in desperate need of staffing and money put into the USDA offices where farmers go to enroll in programs. These offices are in every county in the state and are great places for information to be passed along...but only if there are people working in them who can help.
Thanks for the article -- the last 50 years has changed the Iowa landscape -- NO pun intended!
Yes, I know that sound. Even as our native landscape of Mixed hardwoods and Sabal palmettos are almost entirely gone from the landscape, ranchers and farmers in the area where I live still take pride in “clearing the land”. All the heartache about losing forests in the Amazon and Indonesia and (almost) no one notices when it’s getting bulldozed right here at home. Thanks for noticing. And, plant ten trees for every one your neighbor knocked down ;-)
In Response ToBeth's Comment:
:
Excellent point. Another good thing for me to agitate for! As usual, you are way ahead of me in your thinking. Thanks, Beth!
Glenn Nelson
Your heart is in the right place, but your knowledge is sadly lacking. The picture you shared showed two large piles of diseased and dead wood. I saw no dozing of live trees or trees an arborist would consider valuable or worth keeping. We as farmers are about conserving our land and not destroying it. Proper forestry practices rely on clearing out diseased and dead wood. Letting everything dead pile up is a recipe for disaster when fire starts. Think California and Canada wildfires. Have you taken time to actually talk with your neighbors? We have created biofilters using wood chips and the water leaving our properties is cleaner than when it arrives. Checkout farmers.gov for more information.
Sorry to disagree--but they were definitely knocking down healthy trees along the fence line, and I have seen the same practice many, many times in just my few years living in rural Iowa. Yes, I talk with my neighbors (as you would know if you have read my articles in the past, and my book). And are you really arguing that farmers do not clear land of trees to plant? I am confused--it has been a common practice in the past and present.
In fact, as I thought about it--my own father-in-law (from who we transitioned the farm from 6 years ago) pushed healthy trees down into the very same piles to clear land for grazing. My neighbors are not clearing the land for fire protection--this I guarantee you.
Your patronizing remarks are offensive. Maybe you as a farmer are about conservation. Thank you. Not all farmers are like you. Most are caught on an exhausting treadmill of stripping the land for marginal gain.
Come on Kent ;-) “Mansplaining” in the Dirt?
You’re bound to know that dead and diseased trees have just as much value in a forest as do “healthy” trees. In fact a forest without trees falling down is not a forest, it’s a plantation. And Iowa is not California or Canada and that creek bottom of trees IS the biofilter. Hence the sadness and frustration when seeing it go.
Well said David (and I love the "mansplaining" part).
Thanks for the added context too.
So heartbreaking!
Your article was horrifying on so many levels. But then to learn Iowa “is the most altered state in the union” was a stunning fact — and not in remotely any good way. I remember back in 1990 when I was in Amazon rain forest in Equador traveling with a guide in a canoe. Suddenly you’d hear the distinct & destructive sound of chain saws clearing trees and bulldozing the land. Rhetorical question: What is WRONG with us not to appreciate and preserve nature which protects us? Really interesting piece Beth! Wish it was a more optimistic picture in the long term
Ah yes, optimism!! I will note that there does seem to be an increasing number of us and you (readers) who care deeply about these issues. That gives me hope. And we are starting to work together in very effective ways--more on that in my next post! Thanks for reading.