landreclamation

Cover crops have many different functions and benefits from adding biomass to alleviating compaction to providing habitat for beneficial pollinators. People may be hesitant to plant a mixture of cover crops if they have not previously planted cover crops. Mike Parrish, senior extension agent with Virginia Cooperative Extension in Dinwiddie County, discusses the ins and outs of cover cropping and how different cover crops can serve specific roles in farming, gardening, lawn renovation, and land reclamation. Mike highlights the benefits of buckwheat, cereal rye, and pearl millet. He discusses how winter and summer cover crop mixtures can provide a bridge throughout the growing season, be aesthetically appealing, and be a good source of specific types of pollen for honeybees.

Additionally, Mike has created a number of videos and resource materials to demonstrate the importance and extensive nature of Virginia agriculture. The Desktop Farm Day website that Mike developed to improve agricultural awareness and answer common farm questions can be accessed at https://sites.google.com/vt.edu/desktop-farm-day/home

Learn more about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, pledge your support for soil health, and discover the recent 4 The Soil coloring book at https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/ and https://www.4thesoil.org.

Is the oil sands destroying Alberta's northern forests? Shannon Carla King is quick to point out no: lands are reclaimed by oil sands producers to a natural, self-sustaining habitat. Her method of showing this is unique: she's an Alberta artist who paints  landscapes of the Canadian outdoors with a focus on, you guessed it, the wild beauty of reclaimed lands from completed oil sands projects.

In this podcast, Shannon discusses with Energy Examined host Tracy Larsson why she's using art to correct misinformation about destruction of lands in the oil sands, and the kind of response her work's received to date.  Check out the conversation and the paintings in this video podcast.

Concerns have been raised in the media about orphan wells in Canada. These are natural gas and oil wells where the owner has gone bankrupt and can no longer cover the costs of removing the well equipment and restoring the land. So how big is this issue and what's being done?

Energy Examined host Leighton Klassen speaks with Lars DePauw, executive director of the Orphan Well Association, an industry-funded group that deals with orphan wells. He describes what's being done, including a recent acceleration in reclamations that's also creating jobs across the industry.