I do in-depth writing on the threats our rural environment faces, often focusing on the role working lands conservation can play in bringing ecological and economic health back to our communities. Below is a sampling of my work:
• Can Taller Cover Crops Help Clean the Water in Farm Country? (Civil Eats, 2/27/24): In Minnesota, a local water quality program might serve as a model for incentivizing the next steps in regenerative farming.
• The Farmer Who Went Underground (Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, May-June 2020): A profile of farmer Martin Larsen; his exploration of wild caves in southeastern Minnesota is revealing the connections between clean water and healthy soil.
• Water contamination: In Minnesota, we must reconsider which crops we plant (Star Tribune, Jan. 20, 2020): A commentary on how climate change has made it imperative to consider alternatives to the corn-soybean system of farming.
• Public-Private Prairie Partnership (Land Stewardship Letter, No. 2, 2019): A BioBlitz highlights the role livestock farmers can play in habitat improvement.
• The Farmer & the Ecologist (Wapsipinicon Almanac, No. 24): In a hilltop pasture, Mary Damm and Phil Specht look for the ultimate indicator species.
• Carbon, Cattle & Conservation Grazing (Blog, 4/13/16): A thorough examination of the latest research showing how integrating livestock grazing and diverse cropping systems can significantly help in the battle to avoid climate change catastrophe.
• The 10% Solution (Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, September/October 2015): A watershed partnership in farm country could lead to big changes in water quality downriver.
• The Roots of Healthy Habitat (Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, January-February 2014): Whether you’re talking about the vitality of wildlife, plants, or people, healthy soil is the matrix for a good life.
• A Disappearing World Beneath Our Feet (Blog, 12/16/13): New research shows that decades of monocultural row crop agriculture has decimated microbial life within the soil.
• Working Farmlands for Wildlife (Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, March-April 2011): Whether you’re talking about the vitality of wildlife, plants, or people, healthy soil is the matrix for a good life.
• A Sticky Situation for Pollinators (Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, July-August 2009): Native bees are suffering from habitat loss. When people make room for these wild pollinators, plant communities can flourish and consumers reap the benefits.
• Gauging Ground Water (Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, March-April 2008): Water-rich Minnesota cannot afford to take its underground water supply for granted.
• Sales Pitch for Farm Habitat (Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, November-December 2006): Habitat specialists are making strong pitches to protect soil, water, and wildlife on Minnesota farmland.
• Dead Zone Puzzle (Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, July/August 2001): The disastrous connection between Midwestern cornfields and the Gulf of Mexico’s fishing grounds.
• The Stream Team (Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, November/December 1998): How a farmer and a conservationist stopped fighting long enough to develop a new way of looking at the relationship between cattle and creeks.