Iowa.

The word itself conjures up several images: cattle grazing, red barns with white trim, hay bales dotting a hillside, an autumn sunset over harvest-ready fields of corn.

Indeed, the state’s very existence is dependent on its agriculture. Whereas Wyoming has its coal mines, Maine its fisheries and Texas its oil, Iowa’s only effective natural resource is its land. Iowa possesses some of the finest farmland in the entire world, and the farmers among us have, for generations, dutifully gone out to their fields and pastures, reaping a harvest that not only keeps us – and the rest of the world – from going hungry, but also contributes mightily to the state’s entire economy.

There are those, however, who just don’t quite see it that way.

Anyone who regularly drives through West Des Moines on I-80 has, especially in recent years, been more than able to mark the westward expansion of the city. Cookie-cutter houses spring up year after year where previously there had been cornfields or pastures of grazing cattle.

The municipal, residential and commercial developers of this state have – intentionally or otherwise – declared war on agriculture and rural life in this state. In the latest volley in this ongoing saga, the city of Waukee has announced plans to annex large parts of Dallas County, in contravention of earlier arrangements and upcoming agreements with nearby Adel and Dallas Center.

Although the USDA estimates that total farm acreage decreased by just 100,000 acres between 2005 and 2006, continued annexations by the state’s major metropolitan areas have begun to strangle the rural way of life in many areas. Unfair laws with regard to these annexations further compound the issue, providing a cheap, quick way for cities to expand their borders at the expense of the smaller municipalities and the outlying farms.

What then, of these rural farm towns, those out-of-the way places responsible for so much of Iowa’s culture and history?

In this fight, they can expect to stand almost no chance. The laws of this state, which were never designed to cope with these types of conditions, unfairly tilt the annexation process toward the annexing authority.

The only recourse of those opposed to the annexation, then, is publicity. Des Moines, for instance, was forced to drop plans to annex larger portions of Warren County several years ago due to intense pressure at the grassroots level.

Why must the rural farming communities be forced to defend themselves in the first place? Ankeny has no such worry about being enveloped by Des Moines. Nor does West Des Moines. Coralville is under no duress owing to Iowa City. It is inherently unfair to pit Dallas Center, a city of 1,600 residents, against Waukee, which is more than four times larger.

Where does all this building lead us, anyway? The most developed example is, of course, the Des Moines Metro area. In classic fashion, we can see that West Des Moines, Ankeny and Waukee can’t build fast enough, with acre after acre falling to the bulldozer and the developer. Meanwhile, downtown Des Moines rots from the inside out.

The small communities and agrarian way of life that cover the vast majority of this state must be protected at all costs. The state Legislature must take measures to limit unneeded sprawl on the periphery of its major cities. A moratorium on municipal annexations would be a good start, followed by serious study on the part of legislators and state agencies into the effect of this encroachment on the pre-existing residents. Pavement, clone-like housing developments and slowly increasing crime rates where there were once only cornfields, farmsteads and long fence lines doesn’t sound like much of a positive outcome.

To quote a certain movie: “Is this Heaven?”, “No, it’s Iowa.”

Let’s keep it that way. These are the fields that our dreams are made of.

– Ryan Frederick is a senior in management from Orient.