Nebraska windbreaks original plantings (1935-1942)

Windbreaks, or shelterbelts, are linear tree plantings which provide a variety of ecological functions on the landscape including reducing soil erosion and protecting farmsteads and livestock. The Prairie States Forestry Project began during the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s in an effort to reduce soil erosion taking place in the Great Plains of the United States. This massive undertaking planted nearly 200 million trees from North Dakota to Texas. This data publication contains a digital representation of windbreaks in Nebraska that were planted during the Prairie States Forestry Project, 1935-1942. Using original paper section plat maps, the locations of the windbreaks were digitized using current aerial photography (NAIP, USDA-FSA) in a GIS (ArcMap 10.3, ESRI.) Locations were compared visually using landmarks such as roads and farmsteads identified using Public Land Survey System (PLSS) overlay maps. Linear features were drawn as accurately as possible with this information. The data can be viewed as one complete dataset, or by each year only. This data publication also compares the condition of the original windbreak using several years of current imagery. The windbreak can be INTACT, PARTIAL, or MISSING and has been visually reviewed using NAIP imagery for the years 2003, 2010, 2014, and 2016.
These data are designed for conducting geospatial analyses and for producing cartographic products. In particular, these data are intended to depict the location of original windbreak (shelterbelt) plantings in Nebraska during the Prairie States Forestry Project (1938-1945.) The locations of these windbreaks can be used to compare with current windbreak locations or any preceding timeframe. There is much interest in current conditions and trends of these plantings and very little information is available. These data provide digital documentation of the Prairie States Forestry Project and can be used to assess general windbreak trends throughout Nebraska as agricultural practices have changed throughout the 20th century and into the 21st.
These data were published on 11/22/2021. Minor metadata updates were made on 08/06/2024.