Every year I visit and rephoto a U. S. Forest Service study plot near Prescott, Arizona. This study plot was set aside in 1946 as a means to determine the best method to restore ecological health and function to damaged land in the U. S. West. The major method tested by this plot is the method considered by liberal environmentalism as a panacea for all that ails land in the American West. That method is — protecting the land from the impact of humans or as some people would say it: ”returning the land to nature,” or just plain ”protecting the land.” The photo shown below shows the result of protecting a piece of rangeland in the arid southwest from all human use for 66 years. What did the land look like when the project began? A U. S. Forest Service scientist said, “Pretty much the same as now, but the trees were smaller.”
PROTECTED FROM ALL FORMS OF HUMAN USE FOR 66 YEARS |
GRAZED BY CATTLE FOR 66 YEARS |
UNPROTECTED (GRAZED BY CATTLE) PROTECTED FOR 64 YEARS |