After failed conversion to agriculture years ago, flooded farmlands are now being restored to forested wetlands habitat with assistance from a federal program.

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.

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

In Louisiana, a diverse coalition including fishermen, chefs, environmentalists and retailers calls for fair, sustainable sharing of the Gulf of Mexico’s natural resources.

With Louisiana’s coastline sinking and washing away, projects aim to reverse mismanagement that has blocked depositing of sediment at the Mississippi’s mouth.

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.

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.

In a “catch share experience” on the Gulf Coast, a charter boat captain with an individual fishing quota shows recreational anglers how sustainable practices promise more income and safety.

With Louisiana’s coastline sinking and washing away, projects to restore the Mississippi Delta aim to reverse decades of mismanagement that has blocked the depositing of sediment at the river’s mouth. Pollution in Lake Erie has focused attention on nutrient runoff from Ohio’s farms, and government advisors are assisting farmers to develop solutions. With nutrient runoff also a problem where farms use poultry litter to fertilize fields, researchers are finding ways to recycle litter into nitrogen and other useful chemicals.

To protect one of Arizona’s last perennially flowing rivers, conservationists practice smart stewardship to minimize irrigation and clear invasive plants. Taking advantage of open areas in crowded cities, urban farmers are growing healthy foods and making profits. Studying iconic sandstone arches in the Southwest, researchers learn how these formations vibrate and gather data to help understand their architectural health.