Rise of agriculture

Native Americans are believed to have used fire extensively for thousands of years in ways that extended the natural range of grasslands. Therefore, many of Missouri’s original grasslands may have been caused by human actions.

It is helpful to distinguish between these early influences by Native Americans and those brought about by European settlers. Agricultural development and overuse by these new settlers created sudden and drastic change across much larger portions of the landscape that tended to be more disruptive of natural communities. This disturbed the structure and function of these communities to a greater degree, and many became unstable and subject to deteriorating conditions like soil erosion and loss of native species.

The ironic result was that the role of fire became nearly reversed throughout most of the state. Fire frequency was reduced in most of the grassland regions of Missouri because of the threat to fences, crops, livestock and homes. Free ranging prairie fires were not an acceptable risk to the settlers, so the flames were battled. Yet, fire was used more often in the forested regions to keep areas clear for crops and livestock. The steeper terrain and less productive soils of these regions, along with overuse, left these areas exposed and suffering from erosion.