There is hardly a day or maybe a few days when a newscast doesn’t report something on “climate change”, as if it were something new. Yes, we need to be good stewards of the earth we have been given to live in and enjoy and there is much we can do in a positive way. However, if one but studies history and weather patterns, we can come to realize that climate change has been happening for millions of years and over all, Mother Nature Is in Charge. Take the Flint Hills for instance.
The earth has been experiencing warming and cooling cycles throughout the last 540 million years. During cooling, snow and ice accumulate on the Earth’s surface forming glaciers. When glaciers form, they lock up water as ice and sea levels around the world decrease. During warming, glaciers melt and sea levels rise, covering more landmass.
Kansas and much of the central United States for that matter, was covered by ancient seas. The Flint Hills did not become grasslands until the Miocene epoch, over 10 million years ago. Millions of years ago, the entire state of Kansas was under water. The ocean rose and fell, and the changing levels of seawater helped form the Flint Hills. The seas deposited layers of clay (often as fossilized soils) limestone, and chert. Later, water melting from the glaciers eroded the softer clay layers, creating the characteristic topography of the Flint Hills. Those beautiful rolling hills.
Wind is an ever present element in the Flint Hills. It constantly changes the landscape— blowing away soil and eroding the surface of the hills. The wind has other roles as well: it blows in the clouds that carry the rain, it carries plant seeds far and wide, and it fans the flames of the fires that keep the landscape free of trees.
The Flint Hills boast a mixture of shallow soils in the uplands and deep soils in the bottomlands. These varying soil depths provide room for the growth of tall and short grasses, which support different animal species. Historically, the bands of chert and limestone, close below the soil surface helped preserve this grassland in its natural state by protecting it from the plow.
Fire is an extraordinarily important element that has been used by humans to maintain the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie for hundreds of years. Fire eliminates trees and other invasive species that compete with grassland species. Fire, when set in early spring, stimulates new growth of grasses that are mineral-rich and very nutritious for grazing animals.
Long before the white man, Indians knew how important this annual practice was. Thus, seeing controlled fires in the Flint Hills in the spring is actually an ancient practice. It is nothing new and it is a way of working in concert with nature. If you haven’t done so, I encourage you to take time to drive through the beautiful Kansas Flint Hills. There is no other place on earth quite like it.
