Wathena man finds passion in conservation
Jul. 10—Dave Webber has known he wanted to live on land since he can remember, and he has been able to fulfill his dream as he wakes up every morning to more than 12 acres of pollinator habitat.
Webber's pollinator habitat in Wathena, Kansas, includes more than 64 different live plants and attracts species such as quail, butterflies and bees.
The Conservation Reserve Program, run through the Farm Service Industry, provided Webber with assistance, something he said was vital when building up his land to what it is now.
"Seeing these pollinator habitat projects take hold where there are four or five different species of wildflowers in bloom from April through October, to me, it's just just like a slice of heaven to sit here and watch a sunrise or watch a sunset over a wildlife habitat and my paradise," Webber said.
Webber said driving through the Midwest there are rows of commercial farmland with soybeans or corn, but he said just the smallest of pollinator habitats reverting land back to the natural state could help a large amount of wildlife continue to pollinate and thrive.
"I think a lot of us in the agricultural world need to realize that everything needs insects to pollinate it, everything from that soybean field over there to the corn field down below that, we need pollinators if we're going to keep maintaining productive agriculture and keep maintaining a healthy food supply," Webber said. "It wouldn't hurt everybody to just jump in and say, 'Hey, I got a little two-acre corner over here that's paying to farm.'"
Webber said he continues to learn and develop as a conservationist on his land, which brings him pride and has become a part of him.
"I started on this path back in the late '60s, and I finally realized a few years ago I used to not know what a conservationist is, and now I am one," Webber said. "It just makes me feel good doing something good for the environment and really doing something beneficial for the land because this is land that shouldn't have ever been farmed."
Clayton Anderson can be reached at clayton.anderson@newspressnow.com. Follow him on twitter: @NPNowAnderson.
