Excerpts: Our cropland was originally wrested from forestland or native grassland. Early in our history, almost all forest and grassland near settlements was converted to crop use. As the population moved West, pioneers converted new cropland from native land cover. Over time, much of the land in the East that had been cleared and cropped or pastured reverted to forest. For example, in the 19th century, an estimated 85 percent of the land in Vermont had been cleared for agricultural purposes. As of 1987, nearly 85 percent of Vermont's land area was again forested. As farmers expanded the cropland base, more environmentally fragile land began to be used for crop production. Steeper slopes and land with more highly erodible soils were cleared and used for cropland, increasing soil erosion contributing to sediment damage in downstream rivers and reservoirs. Ecologically valuable wetlands were drained, destroying important wildlife habitat, reducing the ability of the land to retain rainfall, and thus contributing to increased flood damage. In the Great Plains, farmers plowed native grassland, increasing wind erosion. The effects of this conversion peaked during the Dust Bowl of the 1930's, but similar conversions occurred on a smaller scale during the 1970's and early 1980's.