To: The Nebraska State Senate and Governor Pete Ricketts
Use public land to save the pollinators
State and local governments control a large amount of acreage that could provide safe havens for threatened bees and other pollinators. I petition the State of Nebraska to discontinue any use of pesticides and herbicides on public lands except for areas specifically utilized for human traffic. I would also ask that half of the ditches and mediums of public roadways be left to grow naturally without mowing. This would offer buffer zones for pollinators and other wildlife from the crop fields so heavily sprayed with toxins.
Why is this important?
Our pollinators are facing a bleak future without some intervention in present practices. They have lost both sanctuary areas and food sources as every acre of private land is now tilled and planted with commodity crops. The pesticides and herbicides used in modern farming are threatening that very industry as the numbers of pollinators have dropped drastically over the last few decades. I don't advocate legislation that takes away anyone's right to utilize their privately owned land as they see fit, but I believe that the state should not contribute to this coming calamity on ground it owns or controls. We have farmed for thousands of years without chemicals and close cutting vegetation in areas not used for crops, but we have never farmed without pollinators.