1. An Introduction

In Trails Along the Pipestone, one of the many excellent local histories surveyed in researching this work, and unidentified farmer muses on changes he’s seen:

“Bet farmers never thought 40 years ago about me heading to the field in my air conditioned four-wheel- drive. And look at this field, no more pesky potholes. Mind you, that wind this spring sure had me pretty worried, I had that summerfallow worked right up to snuff and look at it now, blown right to the hardpan. Maybe taking out the trees hasn't been such a good idea after all, sure speeds up the work though, and it surely seems like we need to speed things up, ….”

The prairie climate seems to work in cycles. Whenever a dry cycle comes along we try to figure out how to keep the land productive.

The drought years of the thirties brought on the first concerted efforts to used trees to combat the effects of drought, but the succeeding wet years, combined with more advances in both tillage practices and chemical fertilizers, allowed the successful experiment with shelterbelts to somewhat lapse.

Today, with climate change an issue, and a with the recognition that some of our farming practices may not be sustainable, we are seeing a renewed interest in shelterbelts.

This project attempts to set the stage for that renewed interest.

Essentially we have gathered a collection of materials from a variety of sources such as local histories, scientific studies and interested organizations that apply to the subject of shelterbelts and arranged the information in what we see as an accessible way.

The project is in binder form, soon to be adapted as web content, and is meant as a starting point. Ideally it will be the core of an ongoing collection and presentation of resources for those interested in shelterbelts and sustainable farming initiatives.