page_189 < previous page page_189 next page > Page 189 8,600 acres that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers controlled until very recently. In addition, Stark has a more bimodal distribution of larger and smaller parcels than does Clinton. Liberty shows the highest area concentration of large parcels (one holding is 2,600 acres or approximately four square miles) and the greatest fragmentation of small parcels. Automated parcel maps at six dates (1931, 1939, 1955, 1967, 1978, and 1995) reveal that ownership patterns have changed over time within the three townships. In Stark and Liberty, parcel size and distribution are notably different today relative to sixty years ago. Clinton has experienced a reduction in average parcel size and an increase in the number of parcels, but the change in distribution is not as marked as in Stark and Liberty. Land-use profiles point to a history of cropping in Clinton, while Liberty and Stark, whose landscapes are steeper and stonier, experienced heavier livestock pasturing. In all three townships, forests cover more area today than in the 1930s. Such general trends suggest that landownership in the valley is dynamic, with parcels becoming aggregated or divided as families entered or left farming, changed from cropping to grazing systems, or sold their land. However, a closer inspection of the three townships reveals subtle changes in the valley, changes that link people to their landscapes via land-tenure systems, with social, economic, and ecological consequences for the entire region. Clinton The air photos of Clinton reveal distinct changes in land use and land cover since the 1930s. Prior to the 1930s, contour strip-cropping was nonexistent. Farmers increasingly adopted the practice during the I940s and 1950s, responding to federal and state conservation programs aimed at reducing soil erosion. By the early 1960s nearly every field was in contour strips. Beginning in the late 1960s, contour-plowed acreage began to decline, a trend coincident with the first influx of Amish settlers. Forest cover increased over the sixty years, while livestock grazing appears to have steadily declined in forests until the 1970s. We can attribute some of the decline in forest grazing to state- and federal-sponsored conservation programs that required enrollees to fence livestock from forests to qualify for reduced property taxes. However, some changes in forest grazing are also related to distinct livestock eras. Sheep grazing was extensive before 1920, followed by a prominent dairy industry, which ultimately gave way in some places to beef cattle operations during the 1960s and 1970s. Stagnant milk prices during the 19608, together with other economic incentives, prompted many farmers to sell their milking herds and purchase beef herds, Â < previous page page_189 next page >