Plowed Under: Agriculture And Environment In The Palouse

In his book, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Marc Reisner’s main thesis is to show the inefficiency, greed, and inherent difficulty in the American West’s never-ending struggle to turn its unwelcoming desert into a lush garden. One of his main sub-points is that the West is not meant to support millions of people. It has a wide range of geographic challenges throughout the entire region. Its inconsistency and diversity is a primary cause of its water problems. For example, Reisner notes that the West consists of “plains so arid that they could barely support bunchgrass; deserts that were fiercely hot and fiercely cold; streams that flooded a few weeks each year and went dry the rest; forests with trees so large it might take days to bring one down; . . . hail followed by drought followed by hail;” (23).

The Central Valley Project was a tremendous government project to irrigate the Central Valley, a 450 mile stretch of fertile land that has become very important to agriculture. This valley could not have been able to grow the 230 different types of produce it does today without the Central Valley Project. The government decided to construct a system to irrigate the valley. The author writes that the Central Valley was very dry and considered a desert in 1933. So, the government began a series of construction projects to build aqueducts, canals, and pump plants. The text states that the government directed water from the Colorado River to the valley. Due to this, the Central Valley can cultivate 230 kinds of crops as the center of American

I discussed early in the essay about the productiveness of the soil and its contribution to many crops in Wisconsin. I strongly feel Antigo Silt Loam is a big contributor to the successfulness of agricultural crops and the entire agriculture sector. “The reputation of the heartland for all-Americanism has another basis—fertile soil and productive agriculture.” As the glaciers came down from Lake Superior they collected material along the way and carried it throughout Wisconsin. When the glaciers started melting 11,000 years ago they left behind the mineral debris while they were forming. Sand and gravel were the two main minerals that contributed to the development of Antigo Silt Loam after the melting of the glaciers took place. “And the core of North America is exceptionally fertile, thanks in large part to deposits laid down by continental ice sheets and their meltwaters. Agriculture, since the founding of the republic, has not been just food production but also a mythic way of life, idealized and romanticized over.” A layer of clay and silt blew over the exposed land surface topping off the sandy horizon. Strong winds deposited feet of silty loess and loamy outwash on top of the sand and gravel. When the soil started to develop under the northern hardwood forest, it produced a layer of organic material and a clay enriched

Although Leopold’s love of great expanses of wilderness is readily apparent, his book does not cry out in defense of particular tracts of land about to go under the axe or plow, but rather deals with the minutiae, the details, of often unnoticed plants and animals, all the little things that, in our ignorance, we have left out of our managed acreages but which must be present to add up to balanced ecosystems and a sense of quality and wholeness in the landscape.

Introduction: I have chosen the City of Lancaster’s General Plan entitled, “Soaring into the Future”. Entitled so to pay homage to the City’s desire to grow and change, as well as a nod to its economic support from Edwards Air Force Base. The City of Lancaster is a city in the Northern Los Angeles County, in the western Mojave Desert. The City is separated from other communities because it is located in the valley between the Tehachapi Mountains to the North and the San Gabriel Mountains to the South. The area has a warm semi-arid steppe climate which is less hot but rainier than areas with a typical arid climate. This particular plan when into effect July 14, 2009 and is expected to last until the year 2030. Ultimately I will argue that due to the desire to maintain the City of Lancaster as a rural escape for commuters and inability to provide jobs the implementation of these programs can become contradictory.

While families migrated toward this region, the western plains were experiencing some of the greatest droughts to ever occur. In addition to this, “the massive plowing, plus overgrazing by cattle, largely destroyed the native grasses that held the once rich soil in place” (West 1). These settlers were farming on foreign land that they were absolutely new to and maintained the unyielding perception that “land could be shaped by human will” (Black Blizzard). Their rationale was so clouded by the belief that the resources present in the moment were limitless, that they did not see the accumulating cloud of dust slowly slithering across the land. These uneducated farmers were planting soil-depleting crops, which “caused the destruction of organic matter or the loss of minerals in excess of those

Berry’s mention of the farmer and an understanding of his farm is a constant theme in this essay. Agriculture, a distribution of products born from the earth and its entrance into our bodies as nourishment, describes an interdependence. The development of highways, industry, and daily routine of work and obligation, has caused a romanticization of wilderness. High mountain tops and deep forests are sold as “scenic.” Berry reminds the reader that wilderness had once bred communities and civilization, and that by direct use of the land, we are taught to respect and surrender to it. But by invention of skyscrapers, airplanes, we are able to sit higher than these mountain tops and this is his first representation of disconnect from Creation. Mechanical invention leads one to parallel themselves with godliness, magnifying self worth and a sense of significance. What is misunderstood is that through this magnification, because there is no control or limit, we “raise higher the cloud of megadeath.” Our significance is not proved by the weight of our material wealth, rather

6"The people also chopped down most of the near by forest, exhausting the wood needed for fires and to repair their homes and the defensive stockade." (Alan Taylor 2003, 16) (Start from here) (Connect each sentences make it more simpler). Because of low nutritional soil, crops can't thrive on the land. If people do agriculture with a lack of nutrition, the land become weaker because many areas of west side in North America were originally desert.

A bright red juicy tomato, a golden yellow, sweet ear of corn, a dense robust potato, and a shiny bright red apple have more in common than just being fruits and vegetables; they nourish the world? Or, are they slowly killing people? In this present time, most types of vegetation are treated with herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides to some degree. In regard to whether or not this exposure is harmful to humans or not is a question that is going to be explored within this paper. Do the benefits of using pesticides and herbicides in agriculture outweigh their potential harmful effects on human health?

I enjoyed reading your post and about the overgrazing in the Great Plains. Over grazing was growing so rapidly in the 1800’s and later in that century caused the public rangelands to become severely depleted and overcrowded (U.S Department of the Interior, 2015). The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) reports that after the implementation of the Taylor Grazing Act (TGA) of 1934 there was a significant decrease in grazing livestock on public lands by ranchers, decrease in livestock population, and increased operation sustainability and stability (U.S Department of the Interior, 2015). As a result, between ranchers’ cattle, sheep and horses, sustainable grass is scarce and can hardly support a variety of herds. (Rayburn, 2000). In contrast, journalist Robin Walters and Sebastian Tsocanos report that there are not many overgrazed pastures at all (Rediscover The Prairie, 2014). In addition, they find that it is not a bad thing for a few herds to be around. Moreover, they express a lack or worry for overgrazing creating another situation similar to the one during the 1800’s that was widely considered a “Dust Bowl” (Rediscover The Prairie, 2014). In addition to the current limitations on land for the vast majority of ranchers, there is now a careful thought taken into account for future generations which prevents some ranchers to not be excessive like

farmers, and the reduced use of herbicides and pesticides. It is a completely different method

Over-planting of tobacco causes irreparable damage to the soil and environment (World Health Organization). Bromfield used his knowledge of farming to come up with tactics to prevent the overuse of soil. As mentioned in the other writing assignment, Bromfield devised a plan that involved rotating the crops he planted every three years. This eliminated the need for the soil to be treated chemically, and for crops to be grown during the winter months. In this situation, Bromfield synthesized his farming intellect, business savvy, and a basic knowledge of chemistry to devise this 3-year rotation plan. Bromfield also showed off his planning ability and practical knowledge by doing away with the “Old, square fields” (Bromfield, pp. 56, 1948) and instead “contour around the hills rather than up and down” (Bromfield Year, pp. 56, 1948) the hills like the other farmers

California is an extraordinarily productive agricultural region with over 350 different crops are grown here and it has been the highest producing state over the past 50 years. (California Agricultural Production Statistics) Californian farmers have always proven their quick adaptation to new methods and technology; however, even after more than a decade of one of the most intensive research efforts, researchers are baffled on why Californian farmers are proving reluctant to adopt the beneficial conservation tillage farming practices that originated from the Midwest.

Horrigan L., Lawrence R. S., & Walker, P. How sustainable agriculture can address the environmental and human health harms of industrial agriculture. Environmental Health Perspectives, 110 (5), 445-456.

Over the past century, conversion of natural landscapes to anthropogenic landscapes (such as agricultural land) have been the most prominent LUCC in many regions of the world