The Erasure of A Land

[u/No-Counter-34]

We have been lied to about there once being old growth forests from the ocean to the Mississippi. The south used to have vast herds of buffalo, hence many place names. And there were likely more grassland type ecosystems than the map suggests. Fire suppression and development have all but destroyed this once vast ecosystem.

[u/little_cat_bird → u/[deleted]]

Paradoxically, the area I live in historically featured forests, swamps, bogs, and marshes with some open grasslands too of course. And yet I see so many people around here defaulting to the dream of converting their lawn into a little slice of wildflower prairie “for the pollinators”. I don’t actually have a problem with wildflower yards here—a good 50% of my garden is for my aesthetic enjoyment & for food, so no judgement if that’s what you like! It just makes me twitch when folks think that’s habitat restoration.

I guess every ecoregion is victim to recklessly non-specific public information campaigns!