- [Matt] The northern plains of the United States conjure a few images in our histories. Glaciers, blizzards, and bison. Indigenous hunters on horseback, fur traders, forts, immigrants, and railroads.

Billions of tons of northern Plains topsoil has blown away -- far away Soil loss doesn’t just affect the fields that lost it or ditches where it piles up. That soil eventually reaches the oceans.

The first significant snowfall of the season is on the way for the northwestern US and parts of the Northern Plains, and by the time the last flake falls, many high elevation areas will be buried ...