Francis Moul to present 'Guide to National Grasslands' Jan. 17
Released on 01/05/2007, at 2:00 AM
Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007
WHERE: Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q Street, Hewit Place
The history and background of America's National Grasslands will be the subject of the Jan. 17 Paul A. Olson Seminar in Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Francis Moul, an environmental historian from Lincoln, will present "A Guide to the National Grasslands" 3:30-5 p.m. in the Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q St., Hewit Place. Moul's talk and a 3 p.m. reception at the museum are free and open to the public.
Moul will describe how the grasslands resulted from a social revolution of the New Deal, when the federal government ended the public land giveaway of the Homestead Act and, instead, bought more than 11 million acres of submarginal land devastated by the drought of the 1930s. Ranch families were resettled in planned garden cities and new small rural communities. With the help of major conservation programs, the land was restored and new uses were found, including 20 national grasslands with emphasis on wildlife and recreation as well as cattle grazing. Moul will also explore current controversies over the grasslands and discuss alternatives for their future. The lecture is based on his new book from the University of Nebraska Press, "The National Grasslands, a Guide to America's Undiscovered Treasures."
His talk is the first of four Olson seminars scheduled for the spring semester. Future seminars (all 3:30-5 p.m. in the Great Plains Art Gallery):
Feb. 21: "Chasing Droughts Across Nebraska's Past, Present, and Future," Michael Hayes, associate director and associate research professor, National Drought Mitigation Center, UNL School of Natural Resources.
March 21: "Development of a Prairie Grass, Switchgrass, into a Cultivated Biomass Energy Crop," Kenneth P. Vogel, research geneticist and research leader, U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, and adjunct professor of agronomy and horticulture at UNL.
April 18: "Nebraska, 1875: Edwin Curley's View of its Advantages, Resources, and Drawbacks," Richard Edwards, professor of economics and fellow in the Center for Great Plains Studies at UNL.
CONTACT: Kim Weide, Events Coordinator, Center for Great Plains Studies, (402) 472-3964