In Western Oklahoma, Drought Threatens Trees Planted to Prevent a New Dust Bowl

• Joe Wertz
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  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Joe Wertz / StateImpact Oklahoma

State forester Tom Murray stands near the nation's first shelterbelt near Willow, Okla., which has fared well after 80 years. Murray says trees in other sections of the windbreaks are dying from drought and lack of maintenance.

The dirty 1930s left a permanent mark on the Great Plains. To help prevent another Dust Bowl, federal foresters planted more than a hundred million trees and built a giant windbreak that stretched from Texas to Canada.

This massive planting effort was born in western Oklahoma, but many of the trees that helped save the state from its own harsh environment are dying off.