How America Saved Itself from Disaster Nearly a Century Ago – An Interesting Fact

The article describes the Prairie States Forestry Project (PSFP), launched in 1935 as part of Roosevelt's New Deal to combat dust storms. About 220 million seedlings were planted across six states, forming nearly 30,000 km of shelterbelts. The project continues to protect crops and soil 90 years later.

The article describes the Prairie States Forestry Project (PSFP), a large-scale initiative by President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched in 1935 as part of the New Deal to combat the environmental disaster of the Dust Bowl in the central US states. Drought, strong winds, and predatory plowing destroyed the fertile topsoil, causing mass migration of farmers. Under the project, about 220 million seedlings were planted on the lands of 30,000 private farms in six states, forming nearly 30,000 kilometers of forest shelterbelts across 240,000 acres. Trees were planted as a semi-permeable barrier to smoothly reduce wind speed rather than block it. According to the US Department of Agriculture, properly designed shelterbelts can increase yields by up to 20%. A study by the US Forest Service and the University of Nebraska confirms that nearly a century later, the agro-infrastructure continues to sequester carbon, protect against droughts, and serve as habitat for birds and pollinators. However, some strips have degraded or been cut down, and scientists are digitizing archives to assess the remaining stock.