‘Messy’ roadway ditches serve a purpose

In response to recent letters bemoaning that Iowa's medians and ditches look terrible, consider that a weed is just a plant you don't like to look at.

Mowing ditches and the medians not only contributes to the release of greenhouse gases and unnecessarily uses resources, but it also destroys natural habitats of pollinators and impacts runoff that can otherwise be better absorbed by plant and organic matter.

Iowa has an abundance of natural wildflowers and grasses, and when the ditches and the medians are filled with them they can be a beautiful sight alongside our rolling agricultural fields. If we use state resources to better maintain these spaces, let's continue to fill them with more native plants that better the environment, instead of worrying whether the Joneses (or the Nebraskans) mow more frequently.

Jen Neumann

Cedar Rapids