美国国家公共电台 NPR--West Texas landowners can get federal money to clear invasive plants to fight drought

West Texas landowners can get federal money to clear invasive plants to fight drought

Transcript¹

To prevent future droughts and restore groundwater in West Texas, the federal government is incentivizing landowners to replace trees with native grasses. Not everyone is on board with the idea.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Trees are usually considered a good thing. Who doesn't love a tree? But in West Texas, the federal government is paying to get rid of them. It's part of the Drought Resilience Incentive² Program - Drought Resilience Incentive Program, DRIP. That is DRIP for short. Sheridan Wood, with our member station KACU, reports.

SHERIDAN WOOD, BYLINE³: The goal of the program is to get more water into West Texas communities like for pools and watering lawns. The idea is to remove overpopulated species like prickly pear cacti⁴, mesquite, and cedar⁵ trees.

CY TONGATE: These trees are preventing rainwater from infiltrating⁶ into the soil and getting into the groundwater.

WOOD: That's Cy Tongate with the local Water Conservation District. He says rain will get into the ground easier and fill lakes by planting native grasses instead of trees.

TONGATE: They soak up more water than the ecosystem⁷ can really handle.

WOOD: Conservationists agree that the West Texas landscape didn't always look like this. Overgrazing caused soil erosion, making it easier for the woody species to take over. And with fire suppression, there was nothing to stop them from overpopulating the landscape. Ecologist Karl Flocke with the state Forest Service says it's changed in the last 150 years.

KARL FLOCKE: We saw a conversion⁸ of what is mostly a grassy⁹ area with interspersed¹⁰ woody species to more a woody region with interspersed grassy areas.

WOOD: With more than 93% of Texas land privately¹¹ owned, it's really up to landowners like John Hays of Brown County to help restore it.

(SOUNDBITE OF ATV RUMBLING)

WOOD: Hays is a radiologist by day and also owns more than 1,300 acres. He shows me around his land on his ATV. There are green, open pastures dotted with pink and yellow wildflowers. Bison are grazing, and whitetail deer bounce around in the distance.

JOHN HAYS: I'm trying to make this place like it used to be.

WOOD: This is the half of the property he's already cleared on his own. It's more grassland¹² for his bison. Now he plans to use the federal grant money to clear 80 more acres.

HAYS: Even with the feds or state paying half, you're still going to end up paying - it's still going to cost me 20-grand of my pocket money to do that 80 acres.

WOOD: Money is a big holdup for other landowners, Hays says. Programs like DRIP only cover a portion of the cost. And he says Texas landowners are skeptical¹³ of federal programs.

HAYS: A lot of people don't like that. I don't want feds anywhere around my - you know, my place.

WOOD: There's also skepticism that DRIP will do what it's supposed to - get more water into surrounding communities, says ecologist Bradford Wilcox with Texas A&M.

BRADFORD WILCOX: In terms of a strategy for increasing water during drought, it's not a very effective strategy.

WOOD: He says that's simply because there isn't a lot of rainfall in this part of Texas.

WILCOX: Most of the water is going to be used up by plants, say, whether it's grasses or trees.

WOOD: He still believes, however, replacing the trees and restoring the rolling plains is important for biodiversity. But the DRIP program, he says, should not be marketed as a way to increase community water. About 40 Texas landowners have agreed to be part of the project, and the clearing of about 4,000 acres of Texas plains is expected to start later this year.

For NPR News, I'm Sheridan Wood in Abilene.

(SOUNDBITE OF KIDSKEEP.Z & PUKEM'S "FORGET-ME-NOT")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 cacti   

n.（复）仙人掌

参考例句：

• There we could see nothing but cacti.那里除了仙人掌我们什么也看不到。
• Cacti can survive the lack of rainfall in the desert.仙人掌在降水稀少的沙漠中也能生存下去。

5 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

6 infiltrating   

v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Be vigilant against the danger of enemy agents infiltrating the government and boring from within. 要警惕敌特渗入政府内部进行暗中破坏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The metastatic melanoma is seen here to be infiltrating into the myocardium. 图示转移性黑色素瘤浸润到心肌。 来自互联网

7 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

8 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

9 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

10 interspersed   

adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The grass was interspersed with beds of flowers. 草地上点缀着许多花坛。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

12 grassland   

n.牧场，草地，草原

参考例句：

• There is a reach of grassland in the distance.远处是连绵一片的草原。
• The snowstorm swept the vast expanse of grassland.暴风雪袭击了辽阔的草原。

13 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。