Poor land use practices have cost us dearly, both economically and esthetically. Some landowners needlessly bum forests. Some owners or users contribute to flooding problems for themselves and their neighbors through unwise land use practices. Fifty percent of the nation's annual flood damage comes from small upstream watersheds where both public and private property are destroyed. Unsightly scars have been created on 2 million acres of land through strip mining and the mine acid that leaches out of the spoil banks and pollutes streams for miles around.
Solid waste is another byproduct of our affluent society.
We discard 250 million tons of waste each year. Two-thirds of into 40,000 open dumps, in rural areas where it pollutes air, water, and land. Animal waste has a serious negative impact on the environment. This not only pollutes the air, but -the runoff can accelerate eutrophication and destroy streams, ponds, and lakes. By volume, sediment is our most costly water pollutant.