Initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 to combat the severe wind-caused soil erosion of the Dust Bowl days, the Prairie States Forestry Project brought the U.S. Forest Service together with the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps to plant windbreaks throughout the Great Plains from 1935 through 1942. Nearly 220 million seedlings were planted, creating 18,600 miles of windbreaks occupying 240,000 acres on 30,000 farms. Nebraskans led this effort by planting almost 4,170 miles of windbreaks occupying 51,621 acres on 6,944 farms. In April 1935, the first windbreak established under this project in Nebraska was planted on the John Schleusener farm. Today, many of the trees have declined in growth and vigor because of close spacing, age, and invasion of undesirable, short-lived trees. In cooperation with the Schleusener family, the Nebraska Forest Service and the Upper Elkhorn Natural Resource District established two demonstration areas within this windbreak to show methods of improving the condition of the remaining trees and to encourage new growth and establishment of desirable trees, while the area closest to the roadway remains unaltered as a living reminder of the project and Nebraskans' efforts to protect valuable farmland.