国家地理:退田护河

Out of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northwest Georgia, the cold waters of the Conasauga River descend toward Tennessee.
Flowing back and forth across the state line, the River's abundant wildlife and unspoiled beauty is a remnant of the past--a fading memory that Carton Petty wants to restore.
"I found out it phased out. Take care of the land and it’ll take care of you."
It break, (if) you didn't.
Petty purchased this land several years ago to grow corn and raise dairy cattle. Today, his farm covers more than 7,000 acres, 170 of them along the Conasauga. To preserve the beauty of the river and his property, Petty has built buffer zones--dedicated strips of land to stop chemicals he spreads on his crops from running into the river, and to prevent bank erosion.
"Yep, this, this is just the new buffer we put in and it just, They were sold in November. And it’ll take about a year for you to get established good. "
Buffers are an idea from the Conservation Reserve Program--a United States Department of Agriculture backed initiative that brings landowners, local alliances, and other government agencies together. Nevertheless, keeping an old river like this one healthy in a modern world is difficult.
Beneath the surface of these waters, a pollutant is killing one of its oldest residents --a rare kind of mussel(贻贝). And no one knows exactly where it is coming from.
"This animal's, probably, 20 to 30 years old... "
Paul Johnson with the Tennessee Aquarium has the task of figuring out how to preserve the mussels and help them reproduce.
"This animal’s called... Its scientific name is Cora-bean Hellene. Its common name is the Georgia Pigtail. It was believed to be extinct, then we found this species alive in the Conasauga River, and as far as we know, Conasauga is the sole river that contains this species"
It is a race against time. As long as they cannot figure out what is killing the mussels, that something poses a threat to the whole river.
While the work goes on, the Petties will keep doing their part.
"It's lucky we got something special here with the Conasauga. So, I think we all well understand and start to realize that. And we're trying to do the appropriate steps to keep it a clean and beautiful view."
在佐治亚州西北部的蓝脊山外，Conasauga河冰冷的水静静地流向田纳西州。
这条河沿着田纳西州边境蜿蜒曲折，丰富的野生物种和未被损坏的美景已经成为过去——Carton Petty希望重建的褪色的记忆。
“我发现这里的美景逐渐消失了。你关照土地，它也会关照你。”
如果你不好好对它，终有一天它会崩溃。
Carton Petty几年前购买了这片土地，主要用于种植玉米和养殖奶牛。今天，他的农场占地7，000多英亩，其中170多亩是在Conasauga河岸。为了保住河流的美景和他的财产，Petty建立的缓冲区——一些防止他施用在作物上的化学物质流入河流，防止河岸侵蚀的专用土地带。
“这是我们投入的新的缓冲带，11月份刚刚买过来的，大约要用一年的时间才能建好。”
缓冲区是来自美国自然保护计划(Conservation Reserve Program，简称CRP)——美国农业部为了将土地所有者，当地联盟和其他政府机构联合起来而设立的项目。但是，在现代化的世界里，要想保持这样的河流的健康是非常困难的。
在河面一下，污染物正在杀戮河中最古老的居民——一种稀有贻贝。没人确切的知道它来自哪里。
“这种动物，年龄可能在20到30岁之间……”
田纳西水族馆的Paul Johnson负责找出保护这些贻贝和使它们再生的方法。
“这种动物叫做……它的学名是Cora-bean Hellene，通俗名称是Georgia Pigtail。大家都确信它已经灭绝了，但是我们在Conasauga河又发现了这个物种。据我们了解，Conasauga河是唯一有这种物种生存的河流。”
这是一场与时间的比赛。如果他们找不出是什么原因导致贻贝死亡，会对整条河流造成威胁。
在工作进行的过程中，Petty一家还将继续做好他们自己的工作。
“能够和Conasauga河有这种特殊的关系我们感到很幸运。所以，我觉得我们会理解，并且开始意识到这一点。我们正在努力采取适当的措施，以保证Conasauga河清洁美丽的风景。”