land degradation
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Growing Goat Herds Signal Global Grassland Decline
After the earth was created, soil formed slowly over geological time from the weathering of rocks. It began to support early plant life, which protected and enriched it until it became the topsoil that sustains the diversity of plants and animals we know today. Now the world’s ever-growing herds of cattle, sheep, and goats are […]
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Wal-Mart’s history of destroying sacred sites
A re-consecration ceremony was held this past weekend at a damaged Indian mound in Oxford, Ala. As we reported last month, the 1,500-year-old sacred and archaeologically significant site was partially demolished during a taxpayer-funded economic development project, with the excavated dirt to be used as fill for construction of a Sam’s Club, a retail warehouse […]
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White House announces Gulf restoration task force amid criticism of Army Corps
In response to criticism that the Army Corps of Engineers has failed to take needed action, President Obama is creating a federal task force to overhaul management of coastal restoration efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi. White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley made the announcement this week in an interview with Bloomberg News. […]
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Army Corps urged to honor Obama’s priority of restoring New Orleans area wetlands
Louisiana’s threatened wetlands provide a critical barrier to hurricanes and flooding.With the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaching, a coalition of 17 advocacy groups called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to promptly honor President Obama’s pledge “to restore nature’s barriers — the wetlands, marshes and barrier islands that can take the first blows and […]
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Sen. Landrieu’s plan to export Louisiana’s coastal destruction to Florida
While Louisiana struggles to restore coastal wetlands ravaged in large part by decades of oil and gas drilling, its senior senator is leading the effort to lift the ban on drilling off Florida’s Panhandle. U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) is the lone co-sponsor of legislation sponsored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) to open up new […]
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Alabama city backing away from destruction of ancient Indian mound?
Following local protests and international outcry, the city of Oxford, Ala. appears to be backing away from plans to destroy an ancient and archaeologically significant Indian mound in order to use the dirt as fill for a new Sam’s Club, a retail warehouse store operated by Wal-Mart. A local landowner says his property will now […]
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Alabama city destroying ancient Indian mound for Sam’s Club
City leaders in Oxford, Ala. have approved the destruction of a 1,500-year-old Native American ceremonial mound and are using the dirt as fill for a new Sam’s Club, a retail warehouse store operated by Wal-Mart. A University of Alabama archaeology report commissioned by the city found that the site was historically significant as the largest […]
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Immigration scuffles threaten wildlands along the U.S.-Mexico border
In the three-way struggle between the U.S. Border Patrol, illegal border crossers, and the natural environment, it’s never clear who’s winning. A U.S. Border Patrol truck on the move near Douglas, Ariz. Photo: Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus. If you ask the Border Patrol, they will tell you they apprehended nearly 1.2 million illegal crossers in […]
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Which parts of the U.S. have put themselves in nature’s way?
It's easy to see in hindsight. Yes, Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster, but it was aided by some very unnatural factors -- developed wetlands and neglected levees, to name two. Figuring there must be other parts of the U.S. in human-made peril, we talked with experts to learn where we've made ourselves most vulnerable, and what -- in lieu of scrapping the whole country and starting over -- is being done to help.