Environment

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Drought-damaged corn is seen in a field near Nickerson, Neb. Plains farmers have begun harvesting what corn managed to survive, although many cut their fields weeks ago, chalking the year up as a loss. Some ranchers have sold livestock because they had no grass for grazing or money to buy feed, the price of which has soared. Nearly all of Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois are in extreme or exceptional drought. (Associated Press)

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A wooden bridge crosses over the Kok River in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province, where minority hill tribes live in villages where their culture is not undiscovered but also is not corrupted by tourism. (Associated Press)

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This July 21, 2012, file photo shows terraced rice paddies outside a Lahu hill tribe village high above Thailand’s Mae Kok River. The region known as the Golden Triangle was once one of the world’s most prolific regions for growing the opium poppy, but government programs and aggressive eradication efforts have succeeding in wiping out most of the illegal crop. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

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Brookfield Homes is building more than 1,000 single-family homes and town homes at Snowden Bridge in the planned community of Stephenson. The Andover model, with 1,506 square feet, is priced from $199,990.

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Colorado Agriculture Secretary John Salazar (right) holds up a Rocky Ford cantaloupe and declares it “the sweetest, best melon in the country” at the Arkansas Valley Fair in Rocky Ford, Colo., on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012. A year earlier, melons from southeast Colorado were the source of a nationwide listeria outbreak that killed 30 and sickened hundreds. (AP Photo/Kristen Wyatt)

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Tropical Storm Isaac, in the lower right corner, moves over the Lesser Antilles in a satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration taken on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012, at 1:45 p.m. EDT. (AP Photo/Weather Underground)

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The Louisa County High School marching band warms up before practice outside their closed school building that sustained massive structural damage and was deemed unsafe as a result of the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that hit near, Mineral, Va., Tuesday, August 21, 2012. Demolition on the school began just two days before the one year anniversary of the earthquake. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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The water tower for Mineral, Va., looms above the small town days before the one-year anniversary of the 5.8-magnitude earthquake that hit the town, causing millions of dollars worth of damage and felt in nearly every state along the East Coast. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Dean Hinnant cleans mortar out of a wheelbarrow outside the historic Cuckoo house, built by the Pendleton family in 1819 just outside Mineral Va. Thursday, August 23, 2012 marks the one year anniversary of the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that hit nearby Mineral, Va., causing millions of dollars worth of damage and was felt in nearly every state along the east coast. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Demolition begins on Louisa County High School two days before the one year anniversary of the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that hit near Mineral, Va., causing millions of dollars worth of damage and was felt in nearly every state along the east coast, Mineral, Va., Tuesday, August 21, 2012. The school sustained massive structural damage and was deemed unsafe, forcing all their students to move into nearby trailers. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Louisa County High School students walk to dozens of trailers used to learn since their school building sustained massive structural damage and was deemed unsafe as a result of the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that hit in August of last year. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Louisa County High School students, who have been moved into dozens of trailers, make their way to buses Aug. 21, 2012, at the end of the day outside their closed school building (left). The building sustained massive structural damage and was deemed unsafe after a 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit nearby Mineral, Va., a year earlier. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)