FOWL Celebrates 20 Years Since its inception in 1991 FOWL has opposed the loss of wetlands. Ohio has lost over 90%. We have an-guished over the continued development, mostly for commercial interest that continue to destroy, fill and degrade the few precious

remaining wetlands. We have petitioned, harassed and cajoled regulatory agen-cies and politicians.

Efforts to reach out to the public have included this newsletter, hikes into extraor-dinary wetlands across the region. We have provided educational workshops and presentations on the plight and on the value of wetlands. Tabling events at a variety of

public events has sustained our out-reach and mem-bership interests.

Throughout this effort FOWL has been sustained only by the gener-ous contributions

of members. There are no commercial sponsors, grants or outside interests to which this independent non-profit is beholden. It serves only its members and the wetlands them-selves. FOWL does not share mailing lists or any other membership informa-tion with outsiders.

Our reputation has grown and our membership base has swollen. We mail nearly a thousand newslet-ters four times a year. Our web presence provides additional services. Our list-serve keeps members informed between newslet-ters.

All this time, we have main-tained the highest level of integrity, science, and fo-cus on our mission we have cherished the per-sonal relationships and community that has knit together around this critical environmental concern.

While we revel in the ac-complishments of our first two decades, we especially cherish the community that has formed. Each year we take time to come together. The Jamboree at the Homer Page Farm in Mi-lan, Ohio on Saturday, June 25th is a celebra-tion of this community.

Please join us for outdoor activities, food, music and tribal camaraderie. Admis-sion is free. Donations are encouraged. Pot Luck Pic-nic with veggie burgers served up at 5pm.

Festivities begin at noon with a paddle on the river. Music begins at 3 and con-tinues all day.

Performances by;

Opossum!

The Pilgirms

Front Porch Swatters

See events.fowl.org

Our Mission

Friends of Wetlands will assure the highest quality of habitat protection for wetlands by

providing education on the functions and values of wetlands; training citizen scientists to report data on local wetlands; and promoting strongly protective public policy.

P.O.Box 3 Amherst, Ohio 44001 WWW.FOWL.org Ray Stewart, President and Director of Communications Ray@fowl.org

A not-for-profit group

Newsletter - June 2011

Upcoming Events: Marsh Monitoring FOWL Jamboree

June 25 OEC Clean Water Conference

August 5 & 6 Green Earth Jamboree

September 17

Inside this issue:

Marsh Monitoring Program P.2

Wetland Community P.2

Comment on Clean Water Act

P.3

Wetland Conference in Beachwood

P.4

Help Save Migratory Birds P.5

Mississippi Flooding P.6

Hubris on the Mississippi P.6

Wetlands and Climate Change

P.7

Marsh Monitoring is well underway at the Wellington

Reserva-tion. We have had a good turn-out so far but we en-courage others to join us. If you have not been out on a marsh at sunset

lately, you are missing a natural surge that is hard to compare. As a part of the scientific protocol, monitor-ing begins after dark. We have been granted a permit

to be in the reservation af-ter dusk when they nor-mally close. There are many interesting calls and sounds in the closing min-utes of daylight. But as the sun gradually glides below the treetops and slips be-yond the horizon a wonder-ful transformation takes place. Many birds scurry and dart about in pursuit of their nightly roosts. Ducks and Geese make their final laps as they settle on to the open waters and nooks be-tween cattails. And all the while frogs turn up the vol-ume. What was a sampling a few minutes earlier is now full orchestration. Where there had been ten voices,

there are now a thousand. We identify the variety of frog calls that form the ba-sis of data collected in our survey. In April it was Spring Peepers that took center stage to rattle our eardrums. In May they were Gray Tree Frogs that showed no restraint. In June we will return for the third act of this passion play. As of this writing a date has not been set. Monitoring is weather de-pendent and is decided on short notice. To be alerted to the next monitoring visit contact ray@fowl.org and be sure to sign up for the Citizen Science list serve on FOWL.ORG.

Marsh Moni tor ing Program

Wet land Community enjoying the sensations of nature. Right up there with great feelings in the field are the relationships I have devel-oped with our FOWL Directors. As President, I assure you that this organization would not exist without them. From our Directors I feel the fire in their bellies, the eye of the tiger, the humor and muses. They are inspirations! When I fail, as I fall short, when my mind is boggled, they rescue me with words of wisdom, kindness and understanding. They lead where I fall behind. They make quite a team. Please thank them as I thank them now.

Kathleen Bradley, Treasurer Helen Kopp, Secretary Mike Wagner, Membership Daryl Davis, Events John Pais, At Large Shirley Tomasello, At Large

While these people really float my boat and do so much of the

Most of the wetland work that I do is on the computer. I have been the Director of Communi-cations for many years and that work requires that I slog through the technology that creates web pages and pro-vides mailing list-serves. In the past year, since becoming President of FOWL I have had the additional duties involved with publishing the newsletter. This task also requires com-puter applications and the use of machines. I actually find a degree of satisfaction when I triumph over the machine and computer to complete the task. It is a triumph of will power over glitches, stupidity, and aging tired copy machines. It is work that I do mostly in isola-tion, without consultation or collaboration.

I thrive on those moments and experiences when I am in the field, exploring wetlands and

work in FOWL, I am even more inspired by our mem-bers. I get emails from people that I hardly know with mes-sages of support and encour-agement; with intriguing ques-tions and concerns. I try to give a quick and personal re-sponse to each one. I am equally inspired and ever so grateful when I go to the post office and find memberships, renewals and donations. We are a wetland community that shares a common sense of joy and burden. We love that euphoria wetland diversity inspires and we recognize the ongoing threats. Please con-tinue to support us. FOWL does make a difference. Mem-ber donations are the only source of revenue that we have. We do not have corpo-rate sponsors or grant money. We are beholden only to our members. Please donate gen-erously to support our mission.

I feel the fire in

their bellies, the

eye of the tiger,

the humor and

muses.

Page 2

June 2011

Gray Tree Frog

Kathleen and Shirley

This is our chance to repair the rules that govern the Clean Water Act protections for Isolated Wetlands. At the end of April, the Obama Admini-stration issued “Draft Guidance on Waters Protected by the Clean Wa-ter Act.” The public has until July 1, 2011 to review the guidance and make recommendations.

Isolated wetlands have not been identified as subject to Clean Water Act jurisdiction since the SWANCC Supreme Court decision in 2001, which eliminated the “migratory bird rule”. Documentation of the contribu-tions isolated waters make to juris-dictional waters should be reinforced for section six of the Draft Guidance. Clean Water Network and the Wis-consin Wetlands Association have provided a summary of important considerations. These include;

1. The draft guidance reaffirms pro-tections for small streams that feed into larger streams, rivers, bays and coastal waters, and wetlands adja-cent to these small streams. 2. The draft guidance allows the im-pact of individual tributaries and wet-lands on downstream waters to be considered in combination with the other tributaries or adjacent wet-lands within a watershed. When there is a predictable or observable effect on downstream water quality by these waters, the individual water can be deemed subject to CWA ju-risdiction.

3. The draft allows field staff to con-sider an array of ecological factors (e.g., flood retention, pollutant reten-tion, flow regulation, habitat connec-tions, nutrient cycling, and sediment trapping) to determine when wet-lands and tributary streams have a "significant nexus" to traditional navi-gable waters and are subject to Clean Water Act jurisdiction.

Talking points from National Wildlife Federation, Ducks Unlimited, the Izaak Walton League of America, Trout Unlimited and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

-This proposed guidance issued by the administration is an important first step that would more clearly define which U.S. waters are subject to Clean Water Act protections. -This proposed guidance begins to restore longstanding protections for many of the nation’s wetlands, streams, lakes and headwaters that have been vulnerable to pollution and destruction since the SWANCC (2001) and Rapanos (2006) Supreme Court decisions. -These two Supreme Court cases and agency guidance issued in 2003 and 2008 jeopardize crucial water re-sources and wildlife habitat. Taken together, they removed protections for at least 20 million acres of wetlands, particularly prairie potholes and other seasonal wetlands essential to water-fowl populations throughout the coun-try. -Restoring protections for these wa-ters directly benefits the American people, fish and wildlife, and outdoor recreation, including hunting, fishing and boating. The economic benefits to the United States from these wetlands and streams are staggering. -The wording of the two Supreme Court decisions left state and federal regulators, landowners and manufac-turers confused about which U.S. wa-ters are protected by the Clean Water Act. When finalized, the guidance will reduce this confusion and uncertainty. -The proposed guidance generally excludes roadside ditches, gullies or small washes from coverage under the Clean Water Act. -The proposed guidance does not affect any of the existing exemptions in the Clean Water Act for a wide range of farming and forestry activi-ties, including plowing, cultivating and

seeding and the construc-tion and mainte-nance of stock ponds and logging roads. -The proposed guidance takes a moderate approach that falls within the limits of the Clean Water Act and the Supreme Court deci-sions.This guidance reflects a more faithful reading of Justice Ken-nedy’s pivotal ‘significant nexus’ test for jurisdiction and places clean water programs on more solid legal and scientific footing. -Issuing agency guidance – instruc-tions to staff in the field about how to interpret laws or court decisions – is a well-established practice used by every administration. -There is also widespread agree-ment that a rulemaking is needed as the next step to further clarify and restore protections that existed prior to the SWANCC decision for our nation’s wetlands, streams and other waters. -To ensure transparency and di-verse stakeholder participation in the process, the proposed Clean Water Act guidance will be avail-able for public comment and review for 60 days. The rulemaking to fol-low will involve additional public notice and comment.

Post comment by going to: http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0409-0001

Finding the right page to comment on can be a challenge. Look for

EPA and Army Corps of Engineers Guid-ance Regarding Identification of Waters Protected by the Clean Water Act (Document ID EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0409-0001)

Comment on the Clean Water Act

Page 3

June 2011

Wetland Conference in Beachwood

2011 Ohio Wet lands Conference This seminar is being held on June 9-10, 2011 at the Embassy Suites Cleveland lo-cated at 3775 Park East Drive in Beach-wood, Ohio.

Conference presentation topics include:

Wetlands Case Law

Delineation Updates

Mitigation Banks

Stream Buffers and Preservation Zones

Ohio EPA 401

Green Development

Storm Water and Water Quality

After-the-Fact Permits

Nationwide Permits

Environmental Land Protection

Section 106 Consultation Keynote Presentations:

Brian Cook, Chief Legal Counsel of the Ohio Environmental Agency, June 9, 2011

Stephen H. Bales, Lt. Col. Buffalo District, US Army Corps of Engineers June 10, 2011

With the vision that Friends of Wetlands should be aware of events with the wetland commu-nity, I was feeling excluded when I learned that there would be a an Ohio Wetland Conference that I didn’t know was in the works. Who would do such a thing? Is there another wetland ad-vocacy group in Ohio that has conjured up an event of significance? Should I attend? As President of FOWL I might have been asked to contribute some content, or announce to my members? Shouldn’t I speak to the confer-ence?

When I saw the price for admission ($695 per person), I realized that this is not an environ-mental conference. This is a legal conference. It is organized by CLE, Continuing Legal Edu-cation, International. Attendees will be updating their understanding of how wetlands effect the regulatory and development community. They

will learn about the nuance of permit application. There will be lawyers who want to learn how to label attempts to miti-gate wetland loss as ‘Green’ practices. Mostly, they will be supporting business as usual.

Lawyers may have no interest in either protecting or ena-bling the destruction of wetlands. They simply represent the interests of their clients. They will be fine tuning and honing the skills that contribute to the system that allows wetlands to be degraded and displaced within the letter of the law without any unnecessary concern for the value and services that native wetlands provide. This is a conference for the moneyed interests as concerns wetlands.

One of the sponsors of this conference is the Ohio Wetlands Foundation (OWF), a major mitigation banking organization. They know wetlands. They know the law. I cannot comment on the specific quality of their work. I am familiar with Sandy Ridge in the Lorain County Metro parks. It is a treasure in Lorain County that OWF implemented. As a general state-ment, mitigation wetlands have failed across the state of Ohio. Established mitigation banks enable development in wetlands. I conclude that the conference is for enablers not for those who cherish wetlands and hope to protect habitat.

If I am mistaken about the assertion I make in this article and if any attendees, sponsors, or contributors to this con-ference wish to submit a rebuttal, I will be happy to publish them. We also have a facebook page that makes a great forum for sharing thoughts on this subject.

Page 4

June 2011

From Audubon Action Center

‘Each spring, millions of birds travel thousands of miles from Latin America and the Caribbean to their breeding grounds as far north as the Arctic. Months later, as the temperature drops and win-ter sets in, these migrants make the long trip back to warmer southern climates. These Neotropical migrants face increasing threats—habitat loss, human population pressures, inva-sive species, disease, and a changing climate. Since its inception in 2002, the Neotropical Mi-gratory Bird Conservation Act has provided mil-lions of dollars for vital conservation efforts, in-cluding monitoring efforts, habitat restoration, education, and other projects in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Carib-bean. But many essential conservation projects remain unfunded. To send and email to congress www.audubonaction.org urging the reauthoriza-tion.’

While migratory birds face increasing threats, their plight is closely tied to those of wetlands of international importance. Many of the critical mi-gratory stopover and staging locations are natu-ral wetlands. For migration to succeed these lo-cations need to be extensive rich habitats that many species can briefly use as they refuel. Of-ten these short migratory resting areas allow the birds to replace lost fat reserves that are needed for their marathon flights like the non-stop jour-ney over the Gulf of Mexico. The following are examples of funded projects that have already been granted. Typically, the matching funds for these awards are many times that of the grant.

Project: Promoting Wetland Bird Conservation Through the Carib-bean Waterbird Census. Location: Islands of the insular Carib-bean including Ba-hamas, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Dominican Repub-lic, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, and Antigua and Barbuda.

Wetlands in the insular Caribbean

Page 5

support at least 156 species of Neotropical migratory birds, of which 17 percent are Birds of Conservation Concern. This project seeks to promote wetland conser-vation throughout the region by providing funding to field test and implement the newly developed Caribbean Wa-terbird Census in at least three countries in the re-gion. The initiative will also promote awareness of wet-lands conservation, and actions that can be taken to increase wetland resilience to climate change. This will be done through a wetlands awareness program linked to the wetland surveys focused on World Wetlands Day 2011.

Project: Flyway Conservation for Paraguay’s Neotropi-cal Migratory Shorebirds. Location: Paraguay River and Paraná River

The biodiverse Pantanal wetlands and the valleys of the Paraguay and Paraná rivers form the largest corridor of wetland habitats in the world. Home to an exceptionally abundant and diverse range of fauna and flora, this natural river system has been used as a pathway for Neotropical migratory birds for thousands of years. Key elements of this project include sustainable research to develop information regarding Neotropical migratory bird habitat use within this flyway; development and imple-mentation of effective conservation action plans for key sites; and a major awareness program at the local, re-gional and national level, to confront, persuade and mo-tivate audiences to adopt changes in their behavior and decision-making to promote biodiversity.

Project:Building Benefits for Birds and People: Ashton Lagoon Restoration, Phase II. Location: St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Since 1950, the mangroves, salt ponds, mud flats, coral reefs and seagrass beds of Ashton Lagoon have stood out as an increasingly rare and valuable natural re-source for wildlife and the peoples of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Dredging and a marina causeway asso-ciated with an abandoned development project blocked water circulation, leading to the loss of significant coastal resources with direct ecological and economic impacts to Union Island and the region, including loss and degradation of habitat for wintering and migratory populations of seabirds, waterbirds, shorebirds and landbirds. Through the contribution of local community groups, scientific review and government support, an opportunity has been developed to restore Ashton La-goon and its critical ecosystem functions and values.

Help Save Migratory Birds! June 2011

Mississippi F looding From Time Magazine article, How the Floods May Restore Louisiana's Wetlands by Steven Gray, May 21, 2011

Only a year ago, the worst oil spill in American history slathered millions of gallons of oil across Louisiana's coast. The muck covered the tall, bamboo-like cane and short grass that stitches together the vegetation that makes up the wetlands south of New Orleans, preventing them from receiving oxygen. Many experts feared it would take years for the wetlands to recover, and that Louisiana's core seafood in-dustry — especially the oysters, which unlike shrimp and fish cannot run away from hint of oil — was imperiled. Such sediment is crucial: the loss of vegetation quickens erosion of soil and islands.

Now, however, sediment-rich floodwaters are headed for the contaminated wetlands. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, manager of much of the nation's waterways, has, over the last century, set up a framework of Mississippi River containment that has ultimately deprived the Delta's wetlands of much-needed silt. That reduced sediment has, experts say, acceler-ated the shrinking of the Delta. Now, however, the agency has opened two channels to divert part of the Mississippi away from New Orleans

and toward the wetlands. One channel is the Bonnet Carre spillway, which is funneling water into Lake Pontchartrain, and, from there, to the Gulf of Mexico. The other is the Mor-ganza spillway, which sends water along the Atchafalaya River Basin and into the Gulf. The water and sediment forced through this channel, experts say, will likely help re-plenish the wetlands to the west of the Mississippi with fresh sediment, especially near fishing and shrimping villages like Dulac. The last major flood, in 1973, delivered enough sedi-ment to create what are now large mud banks covered with lush grass and trees. Those banks have provided some of the crucial defenses of New Orleans during major storms.

The flood will, to some degree, flush out the oil remaining from last year's spill. Some of the oil will mix with the new sediment and, depending on its weight, that amalgam will be pushed by the Mississippi's current into the Gulf. "That does-n't mean it's not a problem," warns Richard Steiner, a marine conservationist who has studied the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and BP's spill in the Gulf. His chief concern: the thick, dark, weathered oil-infused mixture will remain toxic and continue to imperil the Gulf, and certainly much of Louisiana's wetlands, though perhaps with lower concentra-tions of contamination. There's also the risk that some of the remaining wildlife will become slathered with the re-emergent oil, and die. Still, says Steiner, the best route to saving Louisiana's wetlands may ultimately be to "just leave it to natural degradation." As fearsome as they may be, the waters of the flood are all part of nature's work.

Page 6

Hubr is on the Mississ ippi Such a mighty river is the Mississippi that its watershed includes the vast interior of the North American Continent. Its tributaries in-clude the great Missouri and Ohio Rivers. This natural waterway allowed the exploration and exploitation of this nations resources far from its coastal waters. Great cities were spawned along its flanks and reaches. So inticing is its wonder and promise that occupation, settle-ment, and development of its banks was com-pelling. To make better use of this vast riparian environment, farms were settled, towns and cities were built and bridges were constructed.

For Millennia this river system draining the con-tinent has meandered as natural forces cause it to erode its banks and obstructions redirect its course. Observing the river from the air re-veals a wide braided network of stream, ox-

bows and extensive floodplain. The vast delta region is trib-ute to the natural history of sediment deposition whereby the 'Big Muddy' has dropped its load as its waters reached sea-level and settled in to the calm Gulf of Mexico.

In the 20th century the Army Corps of Engineers took on the challenge of controlling the whims of the Mississippi by building dams, locks and levees. So successful were these systems that high value development proceeded in areas that were formerly the periodic domains of the river. Waters were calmed, chan-nelized, controlled and confined. Neighboring prop-erties rose in value as development continued. When high waters oc-curred the levees

Continues on page 7

Home surrounded by levee

June 2011

Wetlands and Cl imate Change

worked to protect these properties but inadver-tently passed the problem on down stream. The confined waters only became greater and more concentrated by the success of the engi-neering. With the meanders erased, oxbows isolated and wetlands removed form the river system a great torrent of water would crash downstream to exert unusual stress on the confinement systems.

This year's flood exemplifies the frailty of such a system. The Corps intentionally breached

levees to release the pressure, allowing the river's waters to expand beyond their artificial confines and flood farmlands and low populated areas. More serious damage to popula-tion centers was averted at the expense of rural populations and agricultural enterprises. This event calls into question the wisdom of such an attempt to corral such a force of na-ture, and the destruction of riparian wetlands. If instead of levees and dams there were free flowing waters that could expand when needed into floodplains and wetlands, there would be fewer flood waters rising to threaten Memphis, Cairo, and New Orleans.

Page 7

Do wetlands have an impact that effects the composition of Green House Gasses (GHG) on the atmosphere? Are they spewing swamp gasses into the air that will contribute to global warming? Or are they the great carbon sinks of the planet that are instrumental in removing Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere and per-manently sequestering it on a geologic time scale?

Most wetlands, by virtue of their still or slowly moving water, have the ability to trap organic matter. The most common examples are peat bogs that can fill deep depressions with decay-ing plant material. It took millions of years for coal to form by this process. In the short term, peat bogs produce a submerged slightly acid environment where there is little oxygen and the remains of once living plants and animals do not get recycled back into the web of life. All living things are composed of organic mole-cules whose structure is built around carbon. As plants grow, they consume carbon in the form of Carbon Dioxide from the air. Herbivores consume the carbon based plant material to build their own bodies. As food energy is con-sumed, some of the carbon is released back into the air through respiration. This is the basis of the biogeochemical carbon cycle that is taught in middle school. For any leaf, pollen grain, dragonfly wing or other biological compo-nent that sinks into a bog, it is largely a dead end for the carbon that was once part of that living system.

When we drain wetlands or mine bogs and coal we expose that carbon and allow it to be re-leased back into the atmosphere. Some of the

carbon has been dormant for thousands even millions of years. It is the return of this ancient carbon to the atmos-phere that is driving climate change today.

With the carbon cycle in mind, it would be wise to reduce our impact on global climate change by minimizing our re-lease of carbon from wetlands and to reduce the trend by protecting, encouraging, restoring wetlands. To that point, Restore America's Estuaries (RAE) announce in April 2011, "that it will lead a landmark initiative to help coastal wet-lands restoration and protection projects issue carbon credits on the international voluntary carbon market for the first time." According to their press release,

RAE, a national advocacy organization dedicated to coastal and estuarine habitat restoration, will lead a techni-cal working group that will develop requirements for quanti-fying and crediting the greenhouse gas benefits of several new types of wetlands conservation projects under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program.

"Coastal wetlands hold vast, untapped potential to trap atmospheric carbon, particularly carbon dioxide, one of the chief culprits behind global warming and climate change," said Steve Emmett-Mattox, who will oversee the project as RAE's Senior Director of Strategic Planning and Programs.

According to VCS, a carbon offset is a greenhouse gas emissions reduction or removal that is used to counterbal-ance or compensate for ('offset') emissions from other ac-tivities. Offsets can be purchased by countries, companies or individuals. The idea that these entities should become carbon neutral is a part of the Kyoto Protocol adopted by all but the U.S. in 1997. There are three steps toward carbon neutrality; 1)reduce emissions by lowering consumption and improving efficiency, 2) produce electricity from renew-able energy, and 3) create or buy carbon offsets.

Hubris continued from page 6 June 2011

P.O. Box 3 Amherst, Ohio 44001

Ray Stewart, President Helen Kopp, Secretary Kathleen Bradley, Treasurer

F r i e n d s o f W e t l a n d s

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