Current MWAC Newsletter
August 7, 2009
In This Issue:
- NWF REPORT: GREAT LAKES WETLANDS AT RISK
- WEEK WORTH OF WETLAND BLOGS
- DRAFT PLAN MAY KEEP MICHIGANS WETLAND PROGRAM ALIVE
- COMMENTS WANTED ON GREAT LAKES RESTORATION INITIATIVE
REPORT: GREAT LAKES WETLANDS AT RISK DUE TO GAPS IN STATE, FEDERAL POLICY
As efforts to restore the Great Lakes gain momentum in the White House and U.S. Congress, a new report by the National Wildlife Federation illustrates how gaps in state and federal policy threaten Great Lakes wetlands.
The report examines state wetland policies in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota. It assesses how well each state is protecting wetlands, identifies the barriers to better protection, and offers recommendations for improvement.
State efforts to protect and restore wetlands, according to the report, are hampered by incomplete wetland inventories, inadequate staffing, insufficient public engagement, and a lack of priorities to protect and restore wetlands.
Gaps in state law also undermine protection efforts. Exemptions which allow for the destruction of wetlands are generally not tracked by state agencies. Further, the quality of wetland mitigation projects is not often tracked, allowing for the destruction of high-quality wetlands that are replaced with wetlands of less value to people and wildlife.
“Protecting and Restoring the Kidneys of the Great Lakes: An Assessment of Wetland Programs in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin” also recommends how Great Lakes wetlands can be better protected. Among the recommendations:
Establish state priorities for restoring wetlands; Improve inventories of wetlands in states to gauge progress or challenges; and, Restore Clean Water Act protections to isolated wetlands and other U.S. waters left unprotected by recent Supreme Court decisions.
Read the report, executive summary: http://www.nwf.org/greatlakes
WEEK WORTH OF WETLAND BLOGS
Following the release of the National Wildlife Federation report, the Detroit Free Press ran a series of blogs related to the importance of Michigan’s wetlands:
- Wetlands don’t get enough respect by Michael Murray
- Keep Michigan in charge of wetlands by Jennifer McKay
- A federal boost for wetlands by Marc Smith
- How wetlands boost the economy by Erin McDonough
IDEA MAY KEEP WETLANDS PROGRAM ALIVE
BY JOHN FLESHER, Associated Press
JULY 30, 2009
An influential state senator trying to save Michigan's wetlands protection program pitched an idea Wednesday that could make it more efficient -- and possibly save it from the governor's list of proposed budget cuts. Although still on the drawing board, Sen. Patricia Birkholz said she was drafting a bill to keep the regulatory program going for up to three years while an advisory council seeks a permanent funding source. Ideas being floated include increasing permit fees and expediting projects that would have minimal environmental impact on the land. "It gives us a good balance," Birkholz, chairwoman of the Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee, told The Associated Press. "We protect the natural resource but we also make the process more efficient."
The current program is largely responsible for enforcing state laws that protect swamps, marshes and other wetlands. It also issues permits upon review of proposals from land owners, businesses and others looking to build in wetland areas. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has proposed abolishing the program and handing wetlands regulation over to the federal government, which would save the cash-strapped state budget $2.1 million a year. Environmental groups oppose the plan, while business groups are divided.
Birkholz, a Saugatuck Township Republican, is circulating a document that outlines key points of a plan she developed in consultation with business and environmental groups. The plan envisions tapping a clean-water bond fund to cover the program's costs in the short term. Increases in permit fees are being considered, which the Department of Environmental Quality has sought in recent years but failed to get through the Legislature. The plan also would create new categories of wetlands development projects for which the department could issue a permit without giving the public an opportunity to comment. The department also could give expedited review to projects that would do little environmental damage.
Those provisions are meant to address complaints of business and landowner groups that the permit application process is too confusing and lengthy, Birkholz said. Such changes might make fee increases more acceptable to business interests, she said.
The Department of Environmental Quality has been involved in the talks and will study the proposal, spokesman Robert McCann said. "If there is going to be a push to keep the program here in Michigan, we just need to be sure a stable source of revenue is in place to pay for it," McCann said.
Environmental groups praised Birkholz for tackling the issue but said they wanted to see the fine print before taking a stand on her proposal.
"We have an excellent program right now. What's really wrong is that it has been cut and cut and cut," said Grenetta Thomassey, policy director for the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, which has participated in the talks. Her group favors keeping the state wetland program but not at the expense of gutting it to please its critics, Thomassey said. She said she "wasn't thrilled" with the prospect of shielding more types of wetland projects from public scrutiny.
"But upon careful review and consulting with the DEQ, we think it's reasonable," she said.
Michigan's wetlands "would be better protected by Michiganders than by Washington, D.C., bureaucracies," said Hugh McDiarmid Jr., spokesman for the Michigan Environmental Council.
Messages seeking comment Wednesday from the Michigan Farm Bureau and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which Birkholz also has consulted, weren't immediately returned.
GREAT LAKES RESTORATION INITIATIVE COMMENT PERIOD
The EPA is seeking stakeholder feedback on the Great Lakes Multi-Year Restoration Action Plan Outline. The slides from the presentations being given by the U.S. EPA at the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Stakeholder Meetings are now available online at: http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/glri/GLRI_Slides.pdf. The slides provide background information about the Great Lakes, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Proposed Programs for implementation in Fiscal Year 2010, and the Great Lakes Multi-Year Action Plan Outline (Fiscal Years 2010 thru 2014). The Great Lakes Multi-Year Restoration Action Plan Outline itself can be read online at: http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/glri/glmyrapo.pdf
Comments can be submitted by August 19, 2009 in 2 ways:
- Online at http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/glri/outreach.html
- By Mail: USEPA Great Lakes National Program Office (G-17J), Attention: Anthony Kizlauskas, 77 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Website with links to all of these documents is at: http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/glri/index.html
The Michigan Wetland Action Coalition (MWAC), a project of Tip of The Mitt
Watershed Council, is a network of wetland protection advocates across the state.
MWAC is focused on promoting sound wetland protection policies at the state
and federal level through education and advocacy.
Phone: (231) 347-1181 x 114
Fax: (231) 347-5928
Email: jenniferm@watershedcouncil.org
Web: http://www.michiganwetlands.org/