, 17 species of legumes, 41 species of composites and 40 species of forbs planted in the high diversity planting which totals about 119 species. Another 10 to 20 species were collected and added later and about 10 species of weedy natives were present naturally (N. Walker, 2011).
As we see in these pictures I took here at SCC, the flowers are tall and vibrant, while the grasses are a little shorter yet. This makes for better health for the ecosystem. The cycle of burning, grazing(which neither SCC nor the Homestead do), produces flowers that are higher in the graze lands and burn spots and eventually give way to the grasses in the summer and fall months (N. Walker, 2011).
Bolli, J. Resource Management Specialist at the Homestead National Monument of America
(personal communication, interview, August, 14, 2011).
Carey, J. (2000, June-July). Little habitat on the prairie - only remnants remain of the nation's original prairie, and biologists are scrambling to understand and restore what is left. National Wildlife.
James, K., & DeBacker, M. (2007). Plant community monitoring trend report. Homestead National Monument of America.
Kerlin, K. (2002, May-June). Return of the native: Natural prairies slowly make a comeback. E, 13, 3, 22.
National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior. (2011, May). Nature and science. Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/home/naturescience/index.htm
Osterhoudt, S. (2001, Fall). A prairie primer. OnEarth, 23, 3, 27.
Walker, N. Prairie Partnership at SCC (personal communication, interview, August, 9, 2011)
Photo credits: Katie Graham
Friday, August 19, 2011
Has anyone here ever wondered what it was like Homesteading in Alaska? Well, I did and I am here to share with all of you what I learned and discovered about the challenges and obstacles homesteader faced in Alaska.
Now, take a moment and imagine what it was like living in Alaska during the late 1800’s into the mid 1900’s when the United Stated first purchased Alaska and homesteaders began claiming the land. In the article Alaska Division of Economic Development (2008a) the Department of Natural Resources states that homesteaders were coming from all over the United States to stake a claim to the land in Alaska.
My name is Samantha Johnson and I am here to share with you what I found during my research on Homesteading in Alaska. I learned that the Department of Natural Resources, the Division of Economic Development and the Bureau of Land Management in Alaska had taken several steps to ensure that the land in Alaska available for sale had certain requirements to meet prior to the actual sale of the land to any person. These organizations were dedicated to the land and the people and ways to preserve yet develop the land.
Today I will be explaining to you about the early years of homesteading in Alaska and the guidelines the potential buyer had to follow to preserve the natural beauty of the land but still meet the requirements to legally acquire the land patent (Alaska, 2008a).
I will be describing what steps are required in Alaska to stake a claim on the land under the Homestead Act. I will inform each of you of the building and cultivation requirements that homesteaders faced and how they managed to accomplish them. I want each of you to know what types of crops homesteaders were able to grow and what kinds of protection they were able to build to keep their crops safe from wildlife.
After the United States purchased Alaska the land became available to homesteaders under the Homestead Act of 1862. The land became available for anyone to purchase as long as certain requirements were met. The Department of Natural Resources in Alaska claim that most of the land currently owned today was acquired after 1958 when Alaska first became a union state (Alaska, 2008a).
The Homestead Act allowed one homestead of 160 acres maximum for each family to stake claim in. Homesteaders were then required to live on the land, have a residence built on the land, and begin farming a minimum of 10% of the land within the first five years to receive legal ownership