USING SCIENCE RESEARCH
            Our daily lives are busy day and night using the discoveries of scientists from ages past. In many cases, we have ceased to be aware of exactly what the science principles are that we are using. Sometimes new data and information are thrust at us so rapidly that we do not know what to believe.
            When science conquers one frontier there is a new frontier to be explored. It often seems that the more we know, the more we know that we need to know more. What follows are two examples of research that were talked about eight years ago that we have barely begun to act on.

• The more improved a road is the more it invites exotic plants to spread. A study in and around Utah’s Canyon Lands National Park showed that improved roads had up to 23 feet along the road where exotic plants grow as compared to three feet along four wheel drive tracks. Reported in National Wildlife, World Edition, August/September 2003.
• Scientists have determined that fires encourage and stimulate plant growth, produce ash that is rich in nutrients, open up the forest to allow more light to penetrate allowing diverse plant species to survive.  Science is making it possible for landowners to build a house that resists fire and to landscape acreage around the house to allow only a low-heat fire. Reported in National Wildlife, World Edition, August/September 2003.

Often scientific research brings with it new ideas, some contrary to long held beliefs. We know that no-till prevents erosion and preserves nutrients. We know that giving up cropland to buffer strips prevents soil erosion and provides wildlife habitat. We know that, if construction sites pay the cost and use appropriate erosion control measures sediment will not end up polluting our streams. We know that straightening channels and building dikes simply sends more water and flooding downstream. We know that wetlands are important to maintaining water quality in our surface waters. We are skeptical and uneasy about acting on new ideas and we want to know the cost/benefit.
Science is a continuous search for more data about how the natural systems in place on the earth work to sustain life. More data helps us know more about how human activities change natural systems and the effect of such changes. Then it is up to us to decide what is sustainable.
It’s almost time for school! Scientific knowledge will continue to have new frontiers. The class work for science and life is never completed. Research and observation bring new understandings of life and our environment. It is our assignment to make the best use we can of the knowledge that research provides for us today. At the same time, we can be open to ideas from new science frontiers.

Della Moen, Earth Team Volunteer, NRCS/Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District, an equal opportunity provider and employer, 07/20//11 (for publication on 0723/11 in the Journal Standard, Freeport, Illinois) Della can be reached at info@stephensonswcd.org