Fuel from weeds?

Why not combine two of our biggest environmental issues and come up with a winning recipe? Kudzu and other non-native invasive plants represent a huge threat. Millions of acres of land are covered in these aggressive, fast growing species.

Instead of turning corn (an important source of nutrients for people and cattle) into fuel, lets use invasive plants! A fellow in Tennessee is producing something he calls Kudzunol by fermenting Kudzu-and he's sold every drop he can make thus far.

Check out the MSNBC video:Finding new fuel sources ‘in the weeds’

2009 Stewardship Network Conference

2009 Stewardship Network Conference - The Stewardship Network: "land managers, researchers, volunteers, private contractors, ecologists, homeowners, restorationists, students, outdoor enthusiasists, nonprofit staff and volunteers, and nature lovers of all kinds..." will gather for the for 2009 conference, Practice, & Art of Restoring Native Ecosystems conference."

What a great way to learn more about the care and feeding of nature. It looks like this will be a very exciting and informative gathering.

Endangered Species Bulletin

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just released its Fall 2008 Endangered Species Bulletin. This quarterly publication provides a great snapshot of the current status and research on endangered species. One article of note within the bulletin covers interaction between invasive plants and pollinators.

Often when we think about invasive plants, the direct competition with native plants is the first thing on our mind. These non-native invaders have few natural enemies in their new territory, and often have very high reproductive rates. Well, what if you compound these factors with the possibility that pollinators may like the new plants better than the natives? Think that through.

If pollinators go to the invasive plants more and the native plants less, then less native plants will be pollinated. If less native plants are pollinated, there will be fewer seeds. Fewer seeds means a slower rate of reproduction. Net result, invasive plants win again.

Check out the Fall 2008 Endangered Species Bulletin for a more in depth treatment of this and other interesting subjects related to biological diversity.

Don't Drink the Water...

Occurrence of Organic Wastewater Compounds in three tributaries to the Cuyahoga River: "a total of 12 antibiotic, 20 pharmaceutical, 41 wastewater, and 22 hydrophobic compounds were detected in water."


This new government report on the contents of our water is disturbing to me. Not because we don't already have a growing awareness that Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) are in our natural water courses. The reason it is disturbing to me is the extensive list of chemicals listed in this report.

In spite of the fact that over the last 40 years we have made great strides in reducing bacterial loads and known toxic chemicals from our water, our streams are still cocktails of antibiotics, birth control hormones, caffeine, and dozens of other chemicals. While the EPA says there is no known human health effects of PPCPs in the environment, the fact is we don't know. Meanwhile, fish, aquatic plants, and wildlife (people?) that eat fish are getting low level, long term doses of a whole host of chemicals.

This report is about just a few small tributaries to the Cuyahoga, but this issue is relevant everywhere people live in high numbers. How many anti-biotic resistant strains of bacteria can develop in such environments? What happens to people who eat fish that take in birth control hormones from the water they live in?

The answer? We do not know. This is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed by a combination of education, regulation, and better scientific research.

For more information about PPCPs, visit the EPA's web page.