Tag: conservation
Prairie home companions: Why more farmers are planting native landscapes in their crop fields
While corn and soybeans dominate the Midwestern landscape today, some farmers are integrating strips of native prairie back into their fields. This conservation practice has expanded to more than a dozen states. Between two corn fields in central Iowa, Lee Tesdell walks through a corridor of native prairie grasses and wildflowers. Crickets trill as dickcissels,
A federal bill with bipartisan support could bring 20x more money to Illinois conservation efforts
NORMAL — That manatees still swim along Florida’s coast, grizzly bears still roam the west and bald eagles still fly in North American skies is due, in large part, to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 — once described by the Supreme Court as “the most comprehensive legislation for the preservation of endangered species enacted
New climate law injects billions into agriculture conservation programs
CHAMPAIGN — Illinois State Conservationist Ivan Dozier is happy to explain the reasons why $18 billion has been set aside for United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) farm conservation programs within the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a $740 billion climate, tax and healthcare spending package signed into law by President Joe Biden this summer.
Once a bipartisan issue, conservation has become controversial after Biden sets goal
Conservation has been a popular part of agriculture for decades. But it’s become controversial since the Biden administration announced a national conservation goal. Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts has spearheaded a movement that likens conservation to government control. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s60/audio/2022/07/30-by-30-opposition.wav Listen to this story here. LINCOLN – Neb. — It was Earth Day 2022 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
State Parks Officials See Increase In Visitors Amid Understaffing, Encourage Compliance With Rules
DANVILLE – Understaffing at state parks is concerning parks officials, who say park visitation is greater than usual and is a challenge for conservation. Ryan Prehn, chief of parks and recreation at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, says like most of the state and country, the department could use more employees. Across the state,
Conservationists Start Project Restoring Some Of Central Illinois’ Native Prairie
DECATUR – Workers cut down a large tree at Rock Springs Conservation Area in southwest Decatur. They’re clearing invasive tree species to make way for re-seeding something that is now rare in Illinois—native tallgrass prairie. Less than one-tenth of 1% of Illinois’ native prairie still exists. According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Illinois