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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Prairie Pothole Study: Corn Ethanol is Crowding Out Critters

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Wednesday, January 20, 2010   

MINNEAPOLIS - What once were native grasslands in the Prairie Pothole Region of Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and
South Dakota are increasingly becoming corn acreage for ethanol, with consequences for native wildlife. A study conducted for the National Wildlife Federation makes the connection between more corn plantings, spurred by government incentives and mandates, and a significant decrease in grassland bird populations.

University of Michigan graduate student Aviva Glaser is one of the report authors and researchers, who has observed what has been happening.

"The increases in corn plantings have really affected the amount of habitat for wildlife, and what we've seen in our study was that it also affected bird populations."

Western meadowlarks, grasshopper sparrows and upland sandpipers are among the species most affected.

Glaser adds that farmers aren't to blame; they're just following government policy.

"There's a lot of incentives for farmers to plant their land in corn, but there aren't as many incentives to put their land in conservation."

The report recommends that mandates and financial supports for corn ethanol be reviewed and possibly phased out. Glaser says they're also recommending that conservation programs be strengthened, so farmers can get financial rewards for preserving native grasslands.

The full report, "Corn Ethanol and Wildlife," is available at www.nwf.org


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