Soil Exhibit Not Treated Like Dirt

  • The 'Secrets of Soil' exhibit at the Smithsonian (Photo credit: Smithsonian Institution, John Steiner and Joseph Talman)

Soil gets treated like dirt sometimes.
But soil is being displayed as a valuable
resource at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.
Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

Soil gets treated like dirt sometimes.
But soil is being displayed as a valuable
resource at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.
Chuck Quirmbach reports:

The Secrets of Soil exhibition includes samples from every US state and territory. It highlights
threats to soil.

The Soil Science Society of America is a main sponsor. Ellen Bergfeld is the CEO of the
Society.

She says major floods this year show erosion is still a big problem. Bergfeld also says some
farmers are plowing under land that was once put aside for conservation. Higher crop prices
have lowered enrollment in a government program called Conservation Reserve.

“And a lot of the contracts are coming up over the next few years so we’re going to see just a
tremendous number of acres coming out. And that does not bode well for the use of those soils.”

The soil exhibit will be at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History for about two
years, then travel around the US.

For The Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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