Looking through various lenses: Transitioning farmland to conservation habitat.

The Issue:

Does transitioning farmland to conservation habitat provide positive impacts on a community.

Explain why this question can be considered a complex question.

This question raises some inherent difficulties, the process of transitioning farmland into conservation might seem easy but it is quite complex as there are many factors and outside interests to consider. The farm/property is located 7 miles from the City of Green Bay and on the Oneida Nation Reservation -so we must get their blessing in all that we do to the property even though we are the property owners and not Native American. Additionally, the town and county municipalities, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Army Corps of Engineers and the USDA NRCS Office are all intricately involved in the planning, process and execution of this multi-phase project.

Discuss why you are interested in exploring this question.

I am exploring this question to better understand all the intricacies of the project I have undertaken on my family’s land. I also want to document this time in my life through proper evaluation and exploration so I can leave this for my son to read and better understand. This project has inadvertently been the reason I went back to school in Fall 2018 to study Sustainable Agriculture and learn then decide what to do with my family’s acreage. I have since graduated with an associate degree from NWTC – focusing on Sustainable Agriculture and Business Event Management- and am here now, completing my BAS in Organizational Leadership at UWGB.

List some disciplines you can call upon to help you explore this issue.

• Education

• Government

• Business

• Environment

• Politics

• History Research

and discuss the perspectives the various fields/disciplines bring to this question.

Discipline(s) /Disciplinary Perspective(s):

• Education / Through involvement with NRCS, Pheasants Forever and the programs chosen on the land the Green Bay Conservation Group has chosen my project to feature in a selection of conservation projects across the state. This is a educational platform to inform professional conservationists' awareness on how to transition a ‘clean slate of farmland’ into a diverse habitat oasis for wildlife and insects.

• Government / 87% of Americans want their local government, including their local park and recreation agency, to make critical infrastructure investments that would improve their community’s ability to withstand or recover quickly from natural disasters. A few examples of these opportunities include placing parks (or green spaces) near waterways so they may double as flood control areas, selecting vegetation in open spaces that mitigate pollution from stormwater runoff, cultivating tree canopies in urban areas that help lessen heat-island effects and planting drought-resistant plants (Roth, Kevin, 2018). The multi-phase parts of this plan include: 3 pond scrapes, tree lined wildlife corridors, oak savanna, prairie grassland and wildflower/pollinator habitat. There is a navigable stream that runs through the farmland and that will be buffered by the planting of the diverse mix of prairie and wetland grasses and forbs to limit the amount of run off going through the property. I envision our block of nature to be a filter for which any precipitation moving through will be cleaner and limit our impact to the watershed of Duck Creek and inevitable the Lower Fox and the bay of Green Bay. Business As the current 'renter' of the property, land steward, project manager, and entrepreneur, it is essential for me to figure out and execute a plan to ‘make the property pay for itself’ in partnering with the USDA NRCS Programs we can recoup money for transitioning the acreage from farmland into conservation. The grants we were chosen to receive will cover the costs of the transition and then pay the taxes on the property for the next 15 years. It is my plan to invest the one-time payment in order to perpetuate through interest beyond the 15-year term.

• Environment / In the USA, CRP/CREP CPs have shown potential to improve habitat and water quality in streams (Stubbs, 2014). Across the nation, CRP/CREP have been estimated to reduce soil erosion by[ 8 billion tons and reduce field loss of nitrogen by 607 million pounds and phosphorus by 122 million pounds (USDA, 2011). The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a cost-share and rental payment program of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Under the program, the government pays farmers to take certain agriculturally used croplands out of production and convert them to vegetative cover, such as cultivated or native bunchgrasses and grasslands, wildlife and pollinators food and shelter plantings, windbreak and shade trees, filter and buffer strips, grassed waterways, and riparian buffers. The purpose of the program is to reduce land erosion, improve water quality and effect wildlife benefits. (Wikipedia) Politics First, incentive-based conservation policies can stimulate people’s economic interests and mobilize individual and collective behavior toward the formalization of conservation-oriented actions (Ruiz-Mallén, 2015). The idea of conservation was headed up initially by Theodore Roosevelt -my favorite president- and has gradually gained momentum over the course of the century.

• History / The green radials were urban woodlands and river valleys that were connected to one another and that were intended to form an infrastructure for pathways and recreation. As such, the radials became a deliberate link between urban and rural areas, whereas green belts acted more as buffers. The radial green concept also took into account the urban expansion through economic growth. Here, too, agriculture was only integrated in the form of meadows and fruit farms. Crop farms were converted into urban woodlands. As far back as in 1874, Dohna Poninskas, writing under the nom de plume of Arminius, published a book about urban development that devoted a chapter to green urban structures. She was far ahead of her time. Her concept of green urban structures provided for farms as an attraction for townspeople. She also saw it as important that gardens be designed in which town children could work, learn and recreate, to prevent mental neglect. The more playgrounds and garden allotments there were, the fewer hospital beds and patients there would be, she argued (Lohrberg, 2001).

Analyze the insights provided by each perspective, evaluating their usefulness in addressing your issue. Through evaluating these disciplines and their perspective you can see why conservation habitat may provide positive impacts on the community. The terms: green spaces, parks, wildlife habitat and natural areas are all referring to conservation habitat.

• Through the lens of education, you can easily see both the benefits and challenges that arise as you transition land from one use to another this perspective can aid in the better understanding for the community as a whole and provide a real-life example of how to do this.

• By understanding the perspective from government agencies, you can see the benefit that a project of this caliber can have on the immediate vicinity – community and neighbors. Putting conservation into action is a powerful way to collaborate with government programs and protect the environment around us.

• As a business owner/entrepreneur/renter I am the person who holds the financial burden or reward in this current agreement. It is up to me and my choices to put this farm/land on course for a bright future for the next 100 years.

• The impact of conventional farming over the last 100 years on this property is evident in the lack of organic matter in the soil composition it is important to understand the soil ecology and the impact this property has on the environment overall. By seeing the impact from the environmental perspective, you can get a better understanding on what programing is available to protect and heal the environment. These perspectives work collaboratively together:

• The program enrollment in the USDA NRCS Programs utilize government, political and historical perspectives to work together to bring about change on this property that is a culmination of all disciplines working together. Propose a way of dealing with the issue.

We have opted to move forward with the plan outlined as follows as of August 2019:

• Work with USDA NRCS office and come up with an amicable plan both for the agency and my family’s lifestyle/values/goals.

• Work with municipalities to get approval for the excavation of ponds and creation of berms. -Get approval from Wisconsin DNR, Army Corps of Engineers and Oneida Nation to go ahead with conservation plans for property.

• Hire experienced contractor to plant trees, shrubs and seed entire 85 acres in appropriate native mixes.

• Work with local & state conservation groups to provide educational opportunities for professional conservationists to see this type of transition in action.

Evaluate your way of dealing with the issue.

The entire reason for me going back to school was to come up with the most optimal plan of moving forward with my family’s land. The primary goal being a place for our family to play, explore and enjoy. The secondary goal being that the land is self-sustaining and can pay for itself. The tertiary goal is that an income stream may eventually present itself in the form of educational opportunities and Agritourism.

References:

Conservation Reserve Program. 17 May 2020 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_Reserve_Program.

Lohrberg F.; Stadtnahe Landwirtschaft in der Stadt- und Freiraumplanung; Fakultät für Architektur und Stadtplanung der Universität Stuttgart, 2001 Roth, Kevin.

“Stewards of the Environment: An Expectation Worthy of Our Time and Attention.” Parks & Recreation, vol. 53, no. 4, Apr. 2018, pp. 12–13. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=a9h&AN=128972030 &site=ehost-live&scope=site. Ruiz-Mallén, Isabel, et al.

"Meanings, Drivers, and Motivations for Community-Based Conservation in Latin America." Ecology and Society, vol. 20, no. 3, 2015, pp. 1. ProQuest, https://ezproxy.uwgb.edu:2443/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1721972819? accountid=14788.

USDA, 2011. The environmental benefits of the Conservation Reserve Program, United States2010. http://www.fsa. usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/united_states.pdf. Accessed 10 April 2016.