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Yes—propaganda. I’ve lived and done agricultural work around both forested areas and other places surrounded by natural prairie. After about the second year of severe drought, natural prairie roots shrivel and break off easily, regardless of depth. Natural prairie will blow away.

I’m not knocking soil conservation through crop rotation, leaving bands of perennials/trees here and there, terracing (illegal in my State due to water rights regulations), and so on. Those are smart practices that will hold moisture, hold top soil, and buffer against shorter droughts. But yes, I’ve seen the false blame from environmentalists on mechanized equipment, human presence, etc. People, doing small agriculture properly, can actually better preserve land and animals against diseases and other natural disasters.

The drought that we’re seeing now, BTW, is more geographically extensive than the dust bowl drought (up to 6,000 feet elevation back then). Now, it’s sweeping over the top of the Great Divide.

My guess is that without enough precipitation during the months to come to stop it, we’ll start seeing dust storms next summer. Saw much more dust in the atmosphere than usual at over 9,000 feet last summer. There’s nearly no visible snow-pack on the peaks now—only thin streaks here and there.

Another two years, and we’ll see the kinds of storms seen during the Dust Bowl era if not sooner. The most severe part of the Dust Bowl drought lasted for about 7 years or more—closer to 8 or 9 years for the whole drought.

Have fun. Enjoy the slide. No doubt, millions have been praying for it and giving thanks.

Woodrow Wilson and the Food Control Act of 1917 added greatly to the disaster. By the government guaranteeing prices for wheat some farmers, and many suitcase farmers who knew next to nothing about farming, plowed up marginal land that most decent farmers knew was not fit to be cultivated. When the price guarantees expired in 1920, and the wheat prices and income dropped, even more land was plowed up in the effort to recover the previous amount of income. Mother nature played along with them through the twenties, but then the natural drought cycle took hold, and dust began to fly. The Dust Bowl was much more the fault of government than it was of the Plains farmer.

Dust storms are part of a natural cycle on the Plains. Major Stephen Long's expedition in 1821 recorded the events and even led to the area being labeled the Great American Desert. We had a relatively small one a few weeks ago that closed I35 in Oklahoma for a few hours. I think it is going to get much worse. Just hold on to your hat!