Virginia installed 46 water-control structures across 150 miles of old drainage ditches to re-wet a swamp; restored peat now traps 200,000 metric tons of carbon a year

The Fish and Wildlife Service restored peat wetlands at Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge North Carolina’s coastal peatlands are being restored to protect wetlands, reduce wildfire risks and keep carbon stored in the soil. The work is focused on bringing water back to areas that were once drained and altered for farming, timber harvesting…

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Hawaii’s 34,000 acres of managed eucalyptus plantations could become a local source of lumber for homes and infrastructure

Hawaii imports much of the lumber used to build its homes, schools and infrastructure, but a new University of Hawaii at Mānoa research project is asking whether some of that material could instead come from trees already growing on the islands. More than 34,000 acres of managed eucalyptus plantations exist across Hawaii, yet much of…

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In 1905, a 13-year-old crawled through a tiny Tennessee cave passage and found a hidden underground lake

In 1905, a 13-year-old boy exploring Tennessee’s Craighead Caverns squeezed through a narrow, muddy passage and stumbled upon something far larger than he could have imagined: a vast chamber containing an underground lake. His name was Ben Sands, and his discovery would eventually become known as the Lost Sea, today recognised as the largest underground…

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