A campaign this month is challenging Pennsylvanians to learn about the health of their soil and neighborhood microbes by planting underwear in their farms or gardens. The Soil Your Undies campaign invites residents to bury a pair of 100% cotton underwear, which can help visualize soil quality over time. Kelly O Neill, Pennsylvania agriculture policy analyst for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which is helping organize the event, said residents can dig up the underwear after 60 days and report their findings. .
June is National Rivers Month, and in Montana, a push to protect more rivers is swelling. The Montana Headwaters Legacy Act in Congress would nearly double the amount of river miles protected as Wild and Scenic in the state. After being reintroduced in 2021, it s finally scheduled for a hearing next Tuesday in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. .
Conservationists in the Northern Appalachian-Acadian region are changing how they think about forest protection and management, by bringing together mainstream ecological knowledge with Indigenous ecology and culture. Five regional partners including the Wildlands Network and Two Countries One Forest held a conference outlining a shared vision, called "Future Forests Reimagined," and now they are working to apply it. Megan de Graaf, forest program director for Forests International, stressed the importance of working across state and national boundaries. .
The National Institutes of Health has begun a nationwide research project to better understand how to prevent and treat what s become known as "long" COVID, as well as determine who s at risk. The COVID-19 virus has affected millions of Americans, but most people have recuperated from the illness - at least initially. However, doctors say thousands who thought they were done later develop "long" COVID, weeks and even months after the initial symptoms are gone. .
By Bryce Oates for The Daily Yonder. Broadcast version by Chance Dorland for North Carolina News Service, reporting for The Daily Yonder-Public News Service Collaboration. In Western North Carolina s Nantahala-Pisgah National Forest, a committed group of outdoor recreation enthusiasts, conservationists, hunting and fishing groups, forest product businesses and forest ecology advocates has been working closely with the U.S. .