Soils Earn Recognition of Senators
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and his colleagues have recognized soils as an "essential" natural resource, placing it on par with water and air, through a June 23 resolution.
Senate Resolution 440 highlights the "critical role" soils professionals play in managing the nation's soil resources.
"This resolution comes at a time when soil is widely undervalued," said Rattan Lal, Ohio State University, Soil Science Society of America past president. "Soil, and specifically sound soil management, is essential in our continued quest to increase the production of food, feed, fiber, and fuel while maintaining and improving the environment and mitigating the effects of climate change. Being the essence of all terrestrial life and ecosystem services, we cannot take the soils for granted. Soil is the basis of survival for present and future generations."
The Senate resolution passed six months after the European Union's Soil Protection Framework was tabled due to irreconcilable differences among Parliament membership.