Preserving the potholes

No, not the holes in the highways--those can be filled and good riddance to them, though I know they will come again every spring. The potholes we need to preserve are the prairie potholes, those sloughs and swampy mini-lakes that dot the countryside, growing cattails and providing homes for ducks and egrets and herons.

Photo by Pete Baer, licensed by Creative Commons.

Tom Meersman has a good article in the Strib about prairie potholes. He describes the way that millions of these humble wetland areas across Minnesota and the Dakotas absorb rainwater and run-off, thereby slowing sedimentation of rivers, preventing soil erosion and purifying water. For years, farmers have been paid to keep these potholes alive. No more.

Farmers in the area signed 10- to 15-year conservation agreements in the 1990s to set aside grasslands and prairie potholes for wildlife habitat, he said, but many are converting the land back to crops as soon as those contracts expire.

Between the expiration of the conservation easements and the rising prices of land, farmers are finding it tough to justify keeping any land out of production. While corn prices were high this past winter, that's not enough to make up for decades of uncertain pricing. Moreover, high corn prices drive land prices higher. Higher land prices mean higher property taxes, since the taxes are based on the land's market value. Farmers have to produce saleable crops in order to keep the land.

Habitat for wildlife, clean water, saving the land for future generations -- priceless. But property taxes, mortgage payments, fuel for tractors and, yes, feeding the family -- these all come with hefty price tags. And some farmers will be draining and plowing the potholes to pay the price.