Liberty Belle
Well-known member
Our old buddy Tony Dean is at it again. He would just as soon abolish private property and turn the west into one big hunting and fishing preserve... with him in charge!!
How long do you think it is going to take before the Argus Leader quits printing his loony lies?
Agriculture shouldn't come at a cost
Tony Dean • For the Argus Leader • March 5, 2008
If all of the anti-hunting groups focused their efforts on the Dakotas, they couldn't do as much to hurt hunting and fishing here as our so-called political leaders have been able to do during the past few decades.
They have never said no to "industrial agriculture," a term coined by Iowa writer Verlyn Klinkenberg.
State legislators took the latest step toward diminishing water and habitat qualities when they passed a resolution telling Congress that South Dakota isn't interested in water quality or protecting wetlands.
This is not the first such effort in the Dakotas, a pair of states rich with wetland resources, but where few elected or appointed officials show evidence of having a land ethic.
In North Dakota, the federal government no longer even tries to purchase wetlands because of a legislative ruling some years ago that requires special permission to do so. But that's a moot point, because it is almost never granted.
And North Dakota has managed to extend that thinking to private land purchases by citizens with a desire to do something for wildlife.
This nonsense happens because agriculture is the occupational demographic that overshadows all others in our state legislatures.
As a result, we have become so vigilant in protecting what is believed to be our number one industry, we pass up opportunities to make our states better places to live.
Some in agriculture fail to see the connection between wetland drainage and increased flooding. They forget they also represent many who live here because of the abundant natural resources or those who live in flood prone areas, and each time a major flood occurs, all American taxpayers dig into their collective pockets to pay for the damages.
Even Devils Lake, that remarkable North Dakota fishery that has nearly inundated the community that resides on its shoreline, is a direct result of unwise wetland drainage, as was its South Dakota counterpart, Lake Thompson.
If you wonder where all the water in the Red River each spring originates, simply drive north on I-29 toward Fargo and view mile after mile of tile-drained fields along the Interstate highway.
All of the water that was on the land now flows into the Red, en route to someone's basement. Now, travel farther south on I-29 into South Dakota and you'll discover many new tile drain projects that promise to do for the Big Sioux what they'd done with the Red River of the north.
Why do we allow such nonsense? I suspect it is because elected officials never question agriculture, which, indeed, is the number one industry in the Dakotas.
But would it be without the huge amount of taxpayer dollars that support it? Ironically, many who farm or ranch decry the intrusive federal government unless they can milk it for subsidies or cheap grazing.
Today's agriculture has become far different from the yeoman farms envisioned by Thomas Jefferson. As as it gluttonizes our environment, it robs from the children who will inherit this landscape when we're gone.
Doubtless, these words will generate some anger, as well as pertinent questions - as well they should.
For most of our lives we have been subservient to agriculture, and today, it threatens the quality of life and the water we drink on the Dakota prairie.
Tony Dean, an outdoor writer and broadcaster, writes a column every Wednesday for the Argus Leader.
3-06-08
http://www.tonydean.com/issues2.html?sectionid=9629
How long do you think it is going to take before the Argus Leader quits printing his loony lies?
Agriculture shouldn't come at a cost
Tony Dean • For the Argus Leader • March 5, 2008
If all of the anti-hunting groups focused their efforts on the Dakotas, they couldn't do as much to hurt hunting and fishing here as our so-called political leaders have been able to do during the past few decades.
They have never said no to "industrial agriculture," a term coined by Iowa writer Verlyn Klinkenberg.
State legislators took the latest step toward diminishing water and habitat qualities when they passed a resolution telling Congress that South Dakota isn't interested in water quality or protecting wetlands.
This is not the first such effort in the Dakotas, a pair of states rich with wetland resources, but where few elected or appointed officials show evidence of having a land ethic.
In North Dakota, the federal government no longer even tries to purchase wetlands because of a legislative ruling some years ago that requires special permission to do so. But that's a moot point, because it is almost never granted.
And North Dakota has managed to extend that thinking to private land purchases by citizens with a desire to do something for wildlife.
This nonsense happens because agriculture is the occupational demographic that overshadows all others in our state legislatures.
As a result, we have become so vigilant in protecting what is believed to be our number one industry, we pass up opportunities to make our states better places to live.
Some in agriculture fail to see the connection between wetland drainage and increased flooding. They forget they also represent many who live here because of the abundant natural resources or those who live in flood prone areas, and each time a major flood occurs, all American taxpayers dig into their collective pockets to pay for the damages.
Even Devils Lake, that remarkable North Dakota fishery that has nearly inundated the community that resides on its shoreline, is a direct result of unwise wetland drainage, as was its South Dakota counterpart, Lake Thompson.
If you wonder where all the water in the Red River each spring originates, simply drive north on I-29 toward Fargo and view mile after mile of tile-drained fields along the Interstate highway.
All of the water that was on the land now flows into the Red, en route to someone's basement. Now, travel farther south on I-29 into South Dakota and you'll discover many new tile drain projects that promise to do for the Big Sioux what they'd done with the Red River of the north.
Why do we allow such nonsense? I suspect it is because elected officials never question agriculture, which, indeed, is the number one industry in the Dakotas.
But would it be without the huge amount of taxpayer dollars that support it? Ironically, many who farm or ranch decry the intrusive federal government unless they can milk it for subsidies or cheap grazing.
Today's agriculture has become far different from the yeoman farms envisioned by Thomas Jefferson. As as it gluttonizes our environment, it robs from the children who will inherit this landscape when we're gone.
Doubtless, these words will generate some anger, as well as pertinent questions - as well they should.
For most of our lives we have been subservient to agriculture, and today, it threatens the quality of life and the water we drink on the Dakota prairie.
Tony Dean, an outdoor writer and broadcaster, writes a column every Wednesday for the Argus Leader.
3-06-08
http://www.tonydean.com/issues2.html?sectionid=9629
