The total weight of living organisms in the top 6 inches of an acre of soil can range from 5,000 pounds to as much as 20,000 pounds.

Cleaning Up Rivers with Trees

When volunteers sign up to help save their local waterways, they might expect to be handed canoe paddles and trash bags. But volunteers with Tree New Mexico (TNM) get shovels and seeds. They are working to save their local rivers—threatened with heavy loads of eroded soil—by first saving their forests. The Rio Salado, once choked with soil that washed over its denuded banks, is now running clear thanks to the TNM volunteers who planted more than 3,000 trees along the river. The group is also working with local farmers, ranchers, tribal groups, and government officials to find other places where native vegetation can be used to slow soil erosion. This is one grassroots organization that’s using its roots to save soil and biodiversity!