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This month the Department of Environmental Services is wrapping up a series of public hearings around the Granite State on how best to manage our water resources, a key component of New Hampshire’s natural beauty and a cornerstone of its tourism industry. DES has come up with a new set of recommendations on how to maintain the health of the state’s waters, including improvements to dams, better protection for private wells, and a solution to the nagging problem of storm water runoff. We'll look at the state of our water resources and the plans to protect them.

Guests

• Sarah Pillsbury, administrator of the Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
• Paul Susca, water resource planner for the Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau
• Ted Diers, Coastal Program Manager for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services

We'll also hear from

• Judith Spang, Democratic state representative from Strafford and chair of the Resources, Recreation and Development Committee

Diamonds, guns, slaves and drugs may be the billion dollar black markets that we hear about, but animal trafficking is the third most lucrative criminal activity in the world. Illegal animal brokers and merchants are notoriously difficult to track down, but one Oregon crime lab has devoted itself entirely to the cause.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory is the first and only forensics lab in the world dedicated just to animals. It’s dealt with more than 10,000 cases from all over the world in the past twenty years. Journalist Laurel Neme followed some of the poachers, processes and prosecutions in her new book Animal Investigators.

Catching California’s poachers can be tough since so few game wardens patrol such a vast stretches of wilderness. So officials are trying something new. In a scene straight out of a television CSI crime show, game wardens and scientists are using DNA analysis and other high-tech measures to protect California’s wildlife. KQED’s David Gorn reports. Click here to listen at the Public Radio Exchange.

(Photo by Steve Stevens via Flickr/Creative Commons)

America's obsession with the flawless lawn didn't begin in suburbia, but in 1967, when the Masters Golf Tournament was first broadcast in color. Homeowners who'd been used to weedy, varied lawns suddenly wanted their own emerald carpets of grass, just like the ones on the green in Augusta, Georgia. It was even given a name, "Augusta Syndrome."

This lust for the perfect lawn has cost Americans billions in herbicide, water and gas, plus countless hours of mowing, and possibly even our health. A National Academy of Science report shows that the health of one in seven people is negatively affected by some form by lawn pesticides. Children and pets are especially at risk because of their size, development, and proximity to the ground. But going organic would be so expensive, right? Well, maybe not. Paul Tukey is the founder of SafeLawns.org and he says an organic lawn is not only better, but less expensive too.

(Photo by Jeremy Page via Flickr/Creative Commons)