Segment 208

Digging for dinosaurs, Sonoran Desert protection, “swamp people”

State(s) featured in this episode: Arizona/ Florida/ Utah

Digging for Dinosaurs: Talk about a special delivery! Co-host Caroline Raville got to witness the recovery of thousands of pounds of dinosaur fossils by helicopter, deep in the Utah desert. Paleontologists from the Bureau of Land Management call Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument one of the best “bone yards” on the planet. Scientists continue to identify new species of dinosaurs and other reptiles in this remote area. Many are 75 million years old!

Sonoran Desert Protection: There’s a quiet beauty in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. A wide range of residents work to make sure wildlife and ancient artifacts here are protected, now and for the future. You’ll meet a pastor who’s come up with a game for his young parishioners to learn about nature. Local farmers embrace the daily visits of wild animals to their land. Conservationists, and even the U.S. Air Force, realize the need to keep this land safe for future generations.

“Swamp People”: The Okefenokee Swamp is constantly changing, from its river trails to its alligators and beautiful bird populations. Sharon Collins of Georgia Public Broadcasting joins some self-proclaimed “swamp people” who make their living in this National Wildlife Refuge. It is a wetland of international importance, but for anyone who visits, it is simply a captivating place to watch plants and animals.

Related Segments

Segment 807

In Utah, the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument is threatened by federal cutbacks, becoming an iconic symbol of a law dating back to President Theodore Roosevelt who started the tradition of using it to protect vast American landscapes.

State(s) featured in this episode: Utah
Segment 806

Volunteers in Utah chop their way through choking invasive trees to unblock the remote Escalante River and keep it wild and free.

State(s) featured in this episode: Utah
Segment 805

Where the Colorado River approaches the Sea of Cortez, conservationists re-plant forests and promote wildlife habitat to revive the Delta after decades of neglect and desertification.

State(s) featured in this episode: Arizona /  New Mexico
Segment 802

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State(s) featured in this episode: Arizona
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Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, commercial fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico use individual fishing quotas to manage red snapper catches sustainably and with far less risk.

State(s) featured in this episode: Florida /  Mississippi /  Texas
Segment 807

In Louisiana, a diverse coalition of fishermen, chefs, restaurateurs, environmentalists and retailers have come together to add their voices to the polarized fight for shares in the natural resources of the Gulf Of Mexico. In Utah, the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument has become an iconic symbol of the Antiquities Act that dates back to President Theodore Roosevelt who started a tradition of using it to protect vast American landscapes. In the Lower Mississippi Valley, a federal program funds the creation of wetland reserve easements to convert flooded farmlands back to the original wetland habitats that were unwisely cleared decades ago.

State(s) featured in this episode: Louisiana /  Mississippi /  Utah
Segment 703

Forest plantations in Florida are managed with prescribed fires that benefit wildlife and the owner’s bottom line.

State(s) featured in this episode: Florida
Segment 806

On the Continental Divide in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, residents support a plan to create new wilderness and wildlife conservation areas, including the nation’s first national historic landscape to honor veterans of the Second World War. In southern Utah, the remote and untamed Escalante River faces a major threat from invasive plants as it winds through spectacular redrock canyons; volunteers chop their way through choking stands of Russian olive to unblock the river and keep it wild and free. A training program in Georgia educates teachers in a new approach to science teaching called 3-D Science – getting teachers and students outside to observe their own surroundings and letting kids’ natural curiosity lead them to learn more.

State(s) featured in this episode: Colorado /  Georgia /  Utah
Segment 805

Where the Colorado River approaches the Sea of Cortez, a new agreement between the U.S. and Mexico shares the river’s water during times of drought and surplus and dedicates water to the environment, restoring flows and habitat along the river and at the Delta. Conservationists are working hard to re-plant forests and promote wildlife habitat to revive the Delta after years of neglect and desertification. On the leading edge of agricultural technology, young farmers are using data to minimize costs, improve yield and increase profits; a fourth-generation farmer in Illinois shows how it’s done.

State(s) featured in this episode: Arizona /  California