Weekender: Wilderness underfoot
Diving into the soils
Recommended reading
Over at Emergence, Jay Griffiths dives into the wilderness beneath our feet: the soil, which, as much as anywhere, is now a threatened place. There’s nothing “Southern” about this essay, but I think Southlands readers will enjoy it.
Bear aware
In another story for the Southern carnivore files, The Assembly offers a long look at Asheville’s abundance—and some would say overabundance—of bears.
“I was to the point where it’s like, yeah, if a bear comes onto my property, it’s a dead bear,” one local says, which to me is a reminder of how strange our ideas of property are. Eventually, and contentiously, one local did wind up shooting a bear.
Everglades updates
The massive $21 billion plan to restore the Everglades is epic—but in an age of climate change, may need a rethinking. Inside Climate News takes a look at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ “restudy.”
Offshore hangover
The New York Times takes a look at the staggering cost of plugging abandoned offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico: more than $30 billion, according to a new study.