tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post3839839334225131393..comments2024-02-21T01:37:44.813-08:00Comments on Trevor Herriot's Grass Notes: Red Williams: province is abandoning its role of protecting land from cultivationTrevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-34070360394832637992014-06-06T08:35:00.385-07:002014-06-06T08:35:00.385-07:00It is clear that Prairie Grasslands across Canada,...It is clear that Prairie Grasslands across Canada, as well as the US, are emerging as targets for dispersal and under marginal ranking will be subject to cultivation and agricultural purposes. <br />What's not so clear is how it is possible to manage these Grasslands, in Saskatchewan, without the application of high technology sensory inventory tools in light of the sheer thousands of acres under changing public ownership. <br />With federal transfer to the Provincial administration of large acreages the taking inventory not only Provincial Grasslands, but now additional holdings, calls for use of sensory and powerful spatial inventory/mapping technologies...with out which effective applied objective stewardship will be very unlikely!<br />How do Provinvial Leaders know what Grassland Acreages are top ranking and which ought to receive status as high value land banking resources. Which should be placed under agricultural ideology and which ought to be subject to other forms of resource stewardship.<br />The opportunity is still bright for Saskatchewans Grasslands and Wildlife Stewardship and the comprehensive inventory technology is in hand. Application of these Stewardship technology tools brightens the Saskatchewans land future now!Steve Dunnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04213614671054696666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-58559099758251908702014-05-28T11:36:24.253-07:002014-05-28T11:36:24.253-07:00Thanks Branimir--I appreciate you providing that s...Thanks Branimir--I appreciate you providing that startling data on grassland loss. The comparison you closed your comment with says it all. A million acres of grassland can disappear in no time if we are not vigilant in providing proper protection.Trevor Herriothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-51499060468396194752014-05-28T10:02:24.120-07:002014-05-28T10:02:24.120-07:00Hello Trevor
Thank you for the conveying this info...Hello Trevor<br />Thank you for the conveying this information. Red Willams’ statements and opinion are not fear mongering. WWF report from 2009 “New directions for the prairie economy; connecting conservation and rural development in the Northern Great Plains” states that in the United States, hundreds of thousands of acres of native prairie are being plowed over and Conservation Reserve Program Lands (seeded and native grassland cover) are being converted into crop production for food and biofuels. Market trends, strong demand for food and biofuel stocks, as well as crop and farming technology are similar in Canada and I am sure that a comparable trend in land use change is occurring here.<br /><br />And here are some hard facts. A 2013 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed that nearly 8% of Northern Great Plains region in the U.S.A. underwent land-use and land-cover change from 1973 to 2000. Total agricultural land cover declined by more than 2% overall, mostly to sub-urban sprawl. From 2006 – 2011 there was an estimated loss of 1.3 million acres of grassland in the Western Corn Belt. This was mainly due to conversion to corn & soybean production. Source: Wright & Wibmerly, PNAS 110: 4134-4139 (2013). Just to get a sense of scale; 1.3 million acres is 1.6 times the size of Prince Edward Island, or a total land cover in the Canadian PFRA community pasture system. The Americans lost the equivalent amount of grasslands in only 5 years.Branimir Gjetvajhttp://www.branimirphoto.canoreply@blogger.com