Federal Proposal May Drown Farmland

It doesn’t happen very often, but for the last year, a republican
governor, the farming community, and environmentalists have been working
together to protect endangered wetlands, by taking certain farmlands out
of production. But now, a new federal proposal could be separating the
groups. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl has the story:

Long Term Impacts of ’93 Flood

The Mississippi River is changing. Some fish and wildlife that once
lived in or around the river are gone and other plants and animals are
moving in. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports
researchers are finding that the flood of 1993 has accelerated those
changes:

Discovering Impacts of the ’93 Flood

  • Like many other trees that produce food for wildlife, this pecan tree died after the '93 flood.

It’s been more than five years since the great flood of ’93 hit the
upper Mississippi River and its tributaries. Since then towns have been
moved to higher ground. New levees have been built. And… people —for
the most part— have recovered from the damage. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham reports that researchers are finding the
long-term damage has been to the environment:

New Ideas for Sediment Removal

The Corps of Engineers spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year
dredging harbors and river shipping channels nationwide to keep them
open. For more than 30 years conservationists have been yearning for
ways to do more than just keep barge canals open. They want to save
vulnerable river backwaters and ever-shallower lakes. Until recently
there has never been a technology capable of moving the amount of
sediment at reasonable costs while keeping the environment safe. But,
as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Charlie Schlenker reports, that
may be changing:

Wetlands Sedimentation a National Problem

Conservation agencies are having a tough time correcting one of the
worst problems in some on the most sensitive areas. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports on the damage sediment and silt
have on wetlands: