Readers Write (Dec. 24): Climate and soil science, bettering black lives, the mining regulation process and the BWCA, the year's best journalism

As fellow avid gardeners and also soil scientists, we feel compelled to respond to the misguided Opinion Exchange piece "Can you dig it?" by Bonnie Blodgett (Dec. 18). One of us has a large garden, rents additional space to grow more vegetables and maintains pollinator-friendly plants in the yard. The other is restoring prairie and gardening in southeast Minnesota. We both grow garlic for research and to supply local growers with unique varieties. We specialize in soil fertility at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Soil, Water and Climate. For 30 years we have addressed nutrient cycling and nutrient use efficiency in a wide range of cropping systems and have worked on understanding and improving soil health.

Soils are a fascinating, complex matrix, and soil scientists conduct research, including fieldwork, about the physical, chemical and biological properties of this universe beneath our feet. Most soil scientists do not see their jobs as "finding ways to add chemicals [to] artificially make soil increase yields." Professionals in our field work diligently to manage inputs to optimize yields while minimizing environmental impacts. Most farmers would reject the advice of anyone recommending that they waste money on unneeded inputs.

Feeding the world and addressing climate change are complex problems that require more nuanced strategies than giving up all pesticides and fertilizers or "getting rid of fossil fuels and cars-as-we-know-them." Soil scientists are not adversaries of those concerned about climate change and the environment. Blodgett's commentary was divisive.

The writers are, respectively, department head and professor emeritus in the Department of Soil, Water and Climate at the University of Minnesota.

• • •

I think Blodgett was spot-on about the climate issues. However, please inform her that malathion is an insecticide, not a herbicide. ("Dandelion just ahead! Unleash the malathion," she wrote.) Spraying a dandelion with malathion will protect these yellow plants from predatory insects but will not kill them. Most dandelions are controlled with a herbicide, specifically 2,4-D or something similar.

The writer is a retired professor of plant pathology at Iowa State University and the University of Minnesota.

Bell references the "Ferguson Effect," but fails to mention the ugly undercurrent in Ferguson, Mo.: among other things, what the Justice Department described as "unlawful" tickets and fines that targeted African-Americans — as perpetrated by the Ferguson City Hall, municipal court and police. This practice regularly sent the poorest members of the community into a financial tailspin that some never recovered from.

The dire issues that face black America are very real, but they didn't come about in a vacuum. Bell's claim that President Obama missed an opportunity "to ask black America to look inward and re-examine some of our attitudes and behaviors" fails to recognize that unless white America does the same examination first, any soul-searching on the part of black America will be a futile exercise.

Regarding the Dec. 18 editorial "A victory for BWCA that could backfire": Are you kidding? You accuse the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters of applying political pressure to the U.S. Forest Service? Exactly how would that work? Becky Rom walks into the Forest Service and says, "If you don't save the boundary waters, I'm going to … ." What? She is bright and tenacious but lacks political power.

Now, if you want an example of political pressure vs. science, let's review some recent history. In February 2015, the press reported that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency was on the eve of announcing that its three-year study of groundbreaking, peer-reviewed research supporting Minnesota's current sulfate water pollution standards to protect wild rice was "close to the mark." That very evening, representatives from the mining companies, the Chamber of Commerce and our state government met with the MPCA and applied political pressure. The next day, the MPCA canceled the announcement — stating that it was not ready to release its findings. Later that spring, said legislators passed the Omnibus Budget Bill (known to many as the Environmental Vandalism bill) that, among other things, suspended the MPCA from protecting wild rice from sulfate water pollution, cut its budget so it would be less able to do its job and eliminated its Citizens Board. An editorial questioning the mining companies, and their cronies, use of political pressure to circumvent science would be closer to the mark.

• • •

The news pages of the Star Tribune have been full of well-researched stories of polluted waters grappling to be cleaned with the Editorial Board's "data-based regulatory framework." Yet the board questioned the path in the struggle to protect clean, drinkable water in the BWCA.

I say use every tool possible, as water and its embodiment of science is threatened on all levels. There is no escaping the reality that easy and permanent victories are rare in the conservation arena. No one knows better than those on the front lines, with their unshakable commitment to save the Boundary Waters yet again. I just wish conservationists were clever enough to use politics to prevent the impairment of the rest of our Minnesota waters.

I am writing to say "thank you" for the quality of your investigative journalism over the past several years, and this year especially. You are tackling very important issues; more important, you are writing about them in such a well-researched way that the authorities responsible have to pay attention. I think you can justly take a major share of credit for reforms in handling child-abuse cases (though an incredible amount of work still needs to be done here, and I would love to see a follow-up series). This year, your series on sheltered workshops and, most recently, solitary confinement are spurring a look at real changes. I am certain that our state's decision (just reported by you) to join the federal effort to reduce the use of solitary confinement would not have happened without your series.

Our government is too embroiled in the politics of protecting one's turf to do this investigative work. I am very grateful for the work of all your dedicated staff; please keep digging!