Environment

Biofuel ethics: food versus fuel

Is it right to allocate a portion of our food crops for producing fuel? What the problem really boils down to is energy. In the past decade or so, worldwide biodiesel and bioethanol production have increased fivefold. Worryingly the vast majority of that biofuel originated from ethanol was obtained from corn in the US. This

Why are some species so invasive? [Invasive Species, Part 1]

If you drive longer than five miles in the South, you'll undoubtedly see an abandoned lot covered in kudzu. Up until the 1950s, farmers transplanted the fast-growing vine from Asia to the U.S. to stop soil erosion along roads. Individual kudzu vines can grow more than 100 feet per growing season, easily spreading over the

The Herd at work

Restoration with Goats: Ruminating on the Reasons

I will attempt to graze over a topic ubiquitous in the southeast: invasive plants. With over 5,000 nonnative plant species in the U.S., you could say that this is no small problem, whether it is in our hands or not. You may ask yourself: Why should I care about the spread of some obnoxious, ugly

Are all forest fires bad?

Around mid-summer each year, stories about wildfires, especially in the Western United States begin to dominate the news. Since 2000, there have been between 40,000 to 100,000 wildfires in the U.S. each year that are responsible for an average of 19 fatalities and 7 million burned acres (about the size of Massachusetts). When humans live

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