This American Land

Episode 1

Protecting the Blue Ridge Parkway, The Value of Water, Sharing the Load

Thu, Apr 23, 2020

Episode 2

Following the Appalachian Trail, Cooling a River, Daughters of the Land

Thu, Apr 30, 2020

For more than half a century, the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund has been supporting the purchase of land for public ownership and recreational access. The Appalachian Trail is just one of the beneficiaries. In Colorado, where climate change means less snowmelt and higher temperatures in rivers like the Yampa, residents are determined to do what they can to save the river by cooling it down. Unlike in the past, a young girl's future role in taking over the family farm in Texas is accepted and welcomed. Scientists study spadefoot toads to learn more about the role of "plasticity" in evolution.

Episode 3

Cape Romain; Repairing National Parks; Forever Green

Thu, May 7, 2020

After decades of underfunding, America's national parks face a backlog of repairs and maintenance now totaling nearly 12 billion dollars. Alarmed by advancing urban sprawl, conservationists in South Carolina rely on the Land and Water Conservation Fund to acquire land needed to protect the natural wonders of a special coastal landscape. Researchers in Minnesota are developing perennial food crops that could revolutionize American agriculture.

Episode 4

Salton Sea; Farmers Challenge Climate Change; Forest Habitat for Birds

Thu, May 14, 2020

California's largest lake is shrinking and migratory birds are disappearing as its water is now too salty for fish - an environmental disaster and a health hazard for humans. In Iowa, activists use faith to mobilize farmers in a movement to adopt new measures like perennial crops to sequester carbon in their soils, and to get paid for doing it. Landowners in Pennsylvania are managing their forests to provide better habitat for declining species of songbirds like the golden-winged warbler.

Episode 5

Controlling Wild Horses; Irrigation Revival; Regenerative Farming

Thu, May 21, 2020

Protected by federal law, wild horses and burros in the West are breeding out of control on public lands, damaging habitats and competing with wildlife for food and water - a problem that is now a crisis that needs a solution. With new water rights and a major irrigation project under construction, Arizona's Gila River Indian Community is reviving an agricultural heritage that sustained them for centuries before white settlers arrived. A pilot project in Minnesota for immigrant families shows how small-scale sustainable farming with poultry and perennial crops can provide extra income with little investment of time.