mtcwby t1_j3e7rvw wrote
Just leaving the fence lines unplowed does a lot for the birds. They serve as cover and pathways for them. My aunt had a farm up in Eastern Oregon and the pheasants were thick out there 30 years ago. To the point that most of the vehicles didn't have sideview mirrors because everybody had hit a pheasant at some point and knocked them off. Now they're a lot more scarce as the farmers have pulled up the fence lines between fields and removed a lot of habitat.
It doesn't mean you can't clear space but leaving some cover is needed. We cleared a lot of brush around our ranch house that had built up over the years by grinding. Getting rid of that brush has increased the amount of deer and quail in the area considerably which surprised me a little. Going forward I'm going to clear more but leave more paths through it that the game appear to prefer. The reality is it used to burn off regularly and achieve a similar result.
Schneider21 t1_j3fu4q4 wrote
This is why I get irritated when I hear people grouse (sorry, had to) about environmental impact studies being done on projects as small as a single drainage ditch.
"Is it really that big a deal they gotta spend all that money and time for one small ditch?" Yeah, bro! Our ecosystem is insanely complex, and the subtlest changes can have major, indirect, and potentially unforeseen impacts on any number of animals.
"Well nature kills off species all the time. Look at the dinosaurs." Uh, okay. I'd rather the species not go extinct myself, personally, because what else would this all be for otherwise. And even if we're not directly at risk now, think about the impact it could have on us in the very near future. Everyone who likes eating food should be super concerned about the bee population and ensuring we're doing everything we can to keep them going strong.
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