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Where are you talking about? That isn't true on the plains of North America. The plain was very treeless, save next to water, where there are plenty of trees. M
by planteen 9y ago
Where are you talking about? That isn't true on the plains of North America. The plain was very treeless, save next to water, where there are plenty of trees. Man has created far more barriers - roads, wind breaks around farms, etc. East of the 100th meridian, most land is divided in a perfect grid with roads along section lines in both the US and Canada. Further west, the lines may be further apart, but there still are plenty of roads compared to pre-1860s when there were none.
- falcolas 9y agoRoads don't do much to stop wind. I've never seen many man-made wind breaks which weren't directly related to stopping snow drifts in specific areas. Embers travel over roads remarkably well.
- planteen 9y agoGoing back to what OP said: > In earlier times, farm fields actually were separated by bushes, patches of rocks, tiny rivers, whatever. My point is that the modern prairie is far more divided than it was 200 years ago. And groves of trees are not just for snow drifts. They provide much protection from wind. To protect from snow drifts, you typically build a very distinct looking snow fence which allows you to control where the drift forms (e.g., not on a road). If you look at pictures of homesteads of South Dakota in the 1880s, there are virtually no trees anywhere, including around farms. There are far more today. Hence why I am asking where the OP is talking about.
- Gustomaximus 9y agoThe context is about stopping fires. And roads do serve this purpose well. In Australia we cut roads through bushland for this purpose. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firebreak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firebreak
- maxerickson 9y agoEven when there are no obstructions, there are regular jogs in the PLSS (because a grid doesn't lie flat on a spheroid): https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5653133,-95.6495983,2380m/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5653133,-95.6495983,2380m/da...