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Sustainable Futures for American Grasslands

http://www.ies.wisc.edu/research/ies600/ies600project.htm

-- 
Lawrence F. London, Jr. - Venaura Farm - Chapel Hill, NC, USA
mailto:london@sunSITE.unc.edu  http://sunSITE.unc.edu/InterGarden
mailto:llondon@nuteknet.com  http:nuteknet.com/london  Venaura Farm
Title: Sustainable Futures for American Grasslands

IES 600

WELCOME TO THE PRAIRIE

This is a comprehensive investigation into a sustainable future for the U.S. Prairie Ecosystem

Looking at America's grasslands, the viewer sees a landscape vastly changed from pre-settlement times. The bison are gone, along with many of the ecosystem's species. Deep scars mar the landscape, where the very soil has been swept away by water runoff so poisioned it is often unfit to drink. The people who have displaced the wildlife suffer as well. Stretched between marginally productive land and government policy they rarely understand, pressure is building on the prairie agriculturalists. Like the Native American cultures before them, the life of the rancher and farmer is vanishing. Our grasslands are fragmented, degraded, and decaying after just 100 years of American settlement. What have we done wrong? What does the future hold for these vast areas we call America's heartland?

Image Source: Big blue stem, Kenneth R. Robertson, Illinois Natural History Survey
Professor: Nancy Langston
IES 600 Fall 1996 Class
Complete Website created by Scott Aulinskis, Sam Axelrod, Joe Bongers, Krista Bultmann, Dan Cottrell, Steve Engler, Aaron Frank, Katherine Grgurich, Julianna Kloeppel, Steve McKeough, Peter Morehead, Patrick Nelson, Michelle Pafford, Nora Rodli, Jen Sabo, Jeff Sorkin, Lisa Stefanik, and Ben Swartzendruber.
Institute for Environmental Studies
Science Hall, 550 North Park Street
University of Wisconsin-Madison; Madison, WI 53706
nelangst@facstaff.wisc.edu
Homepage Websites Created by Dan Cottrell, Julianna Kloeppel, and Michelle Pafford

  • Causes of the Problems of the Prairie
  • Goals for the Prairie's Future
  • Ways for YOU to get Involved
  • IES 600 homepage
  • Institute for Environmental Studies, UW-Madison homepage

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