Great Plains Shelterbelt

History

The "Number One Shelterbelt" is located in Greer County, in southwestern Oklahoma. Oklahoma's first State Forester, George R. Phillips, had the distinction of planting the very first tree in the federal program's very first shelterbelt in 1935. The first tree was an Austrian pine planted on the H.E. Curtis farm near Willow, Oklahoma, on March 18.

The project called for large-scale planting of trees across the Great Plains, stretching in a 100-mile wide zone from the Canadian border of North Dakota to northern Texas, to protect the land from wind erosion. Native trees, such as red cedar and green ash, were planted along fence rows separating properties, and farmers were paid to plant and cultivate them. The project was estimated to cost $75 million over 12 years. When disputes arose over funding sources (the project was considered to be a long-term strategy and therefore ineligible for emergency relief funds), FDR transferred the program to the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

The Great Plains Shelterbelt was allowed under the 1924 Clarke–McNary Act and was carried out by the WPA. Project headquarters were in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Raphael Zon served as the technical director. The U.S. Forest Service and Civilian Conservation Corps assisted. "The Shelterbelt Program of 1935–1942 ... [was] later known as the Prairie States Forestry Project."

By 1942, 30,233 shelterbelts had been planted, which contained 220 million trees and covered 18,600 square miles (48,000 km²).