Resilience, Issue 35 – The Back Forty

February 2010

“The only progress that matters is on the actual landscape of the back forty.” – Aldo Leopold
The news from the Back Forty is very encouraging. In many places that I have visited, people are solving on-the-ground problems with in- novative ideas, cooperative e orts, and abundant enthusiasm. For example, during a recent tour of a farm in Texas, I was astonished to learn that the farmer had built a working hydrogen fuel cell battery in his barn from off- the-shelf parts. He looked like someone from a Norman Rockwell painting, proudly showing off his invention – a green energy gizmo!
It confirmed my feeling that American ingenuity and can-do spirit is alive and well – on the Back Forty. You just never hear about it in the Front Forty press.
In this issue of our Journal, we try to correct this imbalance a little bit by offering stories of actual progress from the Back Forty.

Quivira's annual print newsletter, Resilience, has served as a source for producer-driven rangeland science, a place for stories and reflections from our community, and resource on implementation of regenerative agriculture on arid lands since the start of Quivira. When you click on the individual issues, you will be able to read the complete publication or download the pdf. Sort the issues by topic if you'd like.