Image Banner

Sign Up for
Wetland Breaking News!
Enter your e-mail below

Sign Up for international "Migratory Bird & Wetland NewsLink"!
Enter your e-mail below

Search by keywords:
In Association with Amazon.com




2 Basin Road
Windham, ME 04062
207-892-3399
FAX: 207-892-3089
aswm@aswm.org






Return to top.




















































Return to top.

































Return to top.













































Return to top.






















































Return to top.





































































































































































































































 

 
If you are unable to find the information you are looking for, please search the ASWM website using Google below.
  Google Search www.aswm.org Search WWW

 







   

NEWS OF INTEREST

wetlands2008

 Call for Papers Deadline is May 15, 2008

Wetlands and Global Climate Change

September 6-18, 2008
Field Trips on September 15th & 18th
Workshops on September 19th

Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center Portland-Lloyd Center, Portland Oregon

Registration is Now Open

The overall goal of this conference is to help wetland professionals in the public and private sectors 1) gain a better understanding of the challenges created by climate change and 2) identify discrete activities and actions to take to reduce and mitigate impacts on wetlands and water resources as well as communities. The conference will also address ongoing changes and challenges in wetlands and water resources management. Visit the conference website for more information. [Click Here]


Don't Undermine Wetlands Regulations – Isolated Wetlands

Beaufort Gazette - April 27, 2008
A resolution to streamline state environmental laws regulating wetlands lost some of its steam last week and has been sent to committee, where conservationists hope that it will receive a proper vetting. Lawmakers representing Greenville and Horry counties recently put a resolution on the fast track by taking it to the House for debate. The process bypassed discussion in committee, where the public generally is allowed to testify about its concerns about thelegislation. The resolution was introduced after an administrative law judge ruled in a wetlands filling plan in Horry County. The judge said the coastal management rules were not developed legally. Unless the ruling is overturned, conservationists say it opens the door to more development in freshwater wetlands. Lawmakers who introduced the resolution have been critical of wetlands regulations, but after considerable browbeating last week, Reps. Bill Witherspoon and Dwight Loftis agreed to send it to committee, where it might remain until next year. For full story, go to: http://www.beaufortgazette.com/opinions/story/419381.html



Fact Sheet: Congress' Farm Bill Is Bad for American Taxpayers

White House Press Release – May 9, 2008
Today, Congressional negotiators announced the completion of a farm bill that fails to include much-needed farm program reforms proposed by President Bush and increases spending by nearly $20 billion. At a time of record farm income, Congress chose to further increase farm subsidy rates, require the American taxpayers to subsidize the incomes of married farmers already earning up to $1.5 million per year, and expand government control over farm programs. This bill also adds a number of provisions never considered by the full Congress such as numerous trade-related provisions and expansion of the Davis-Bacon Act. Congress should reconsider increasing by $20 billion the current spending level of $596 billion over 10 years. […] The bill walks away from conservation. The Administration is disappointed that the Conservation Title is nearly $4 billion less than the Administration’s proposal. It reduces enrollment in Wetlands Reserve Program WRP by thousands of acres, falling short of the President's goal of 250,000 acres enrolled per year. The bill dismantles the sodsaver proposal that would protect native grasslands from being cultivated to capture subsidies. For full press release, go to: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/05/20080509.html

 


ASWM Adds New Wetland Assessment Webpage

ASWM has a new webpage on wetland assessment at: http://www.aswm.org/fwp/assessment/index.htm which includes a recent ASWM article, “Wetland Assessment: Measuring the Quality of the Nation’s Wetlands,” a checklist of suggested considerations in developing wetland assessment methods for states as well as several links to state and federal resources on assessment. We welcome recommendations for additional links to add to this webpage. Click here.


FUTURE ASWM WORKSHOPS AND SYMPOSIUM

ASWM Joins the Society of Wetland Scientists to Hold its Annual State/Tribal/Federal Coordination Meeting

SWS 2008 Annual Conference: May 26-30, 2008
ASWM's Annual State/Federal Coordination Meeting:
May 28-30, 2008
Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DC

For information CLICK HERE
ASWM Sessions
Registration
Accommodations at the Wardman Park Hotel


 

Monday and Thursday: Field Trips
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: Conference
Friday: Workshops sponsored by Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Society of Wetland Scientists

Plans are underway for Wetlands 2008. Global climate change will be the primary topic at ASWM's annual conference. Carbon sequestration and wetlands, sea level change, and strategies for managing wetlands in response to long term changes in temperature and precipitation will be important topics. Other related topics will include wetland research priorities, monitoring trends in wetlands and related resources, management strategies, invasive species, biodiversity and policy responses to a changing environment. The purpose of this symposium is to describe challenges, identify opportunities, and share cooperative strategies for protecting, restoring and conserving wetlands in response to climate change.

  For more information go to: Wetlands 2008 Call for Papers Registration
  Sponsorship Levels Hotel Things to Do in and Beyond Portland

 
See ASWM Schedule of Activities for other meetings.




LEGAL ISSUES

ASWM Rapanos/Carabell Website

The ASWM Rapanos/Carabell website contains extensive information on the Rapanos/Carabell Supreme Court case and associated federal guidance as well as related information on Clean Water Act jurisdiction issues.
 
 
11th Circuit Court Decides a Perennial Stream is not subject to Clean Water Act for a Section 402 Discharge

By Jon Kusler, Esq., Ph.D., Association of State Wetland Managers, Inc.
On October 24, 2007 the 11th Circuit Court of appeals (Alabama, Georgia, and Florida) overturned the lower, district court Clean Water Act convictions of several individuals for dumping waste water into a stream because the U.S. government had not sufficiently demonstrated that the stream had a "significant nexus" to navigable waters and was, therefore, a "navigable water" of the U.S. and subject to CWA jurisdiction. Rapanos had not been decided when the case was considered by the lower district court so there was no need to explicitly show "significant nexus" in the trial at this level. Just how much evidence government will need to introduce to establish a "significant nexus" in a retrial remains to be seen. It is possible that government will have little difficulty in establishing a "significant nexus" once the actual words "significant nexus" are used in the retrial jury instructions and jury deliberations. Nevertheless, the language of the court in rejecting EPA's expert testimony presented at the district court level as insufficient suggests that this court and perhaps other courts will demand more evidence of hydrologic, biological, or other sorts of connections than government agencies are ordinarily able to supply given limited budgets and staffing. [read more]
 
 
Federal Register Notice: EPA and Army Corps of Engineers Guidance Regarding Clean Water Act Jurisdiction after Rapanos
 
w U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Water Act Definition of "Waters of the United States"
w U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Program CwW Guidance
 
 
"Significant Nexus" Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Decision Paper
 
The summary and recommendation section: Recommended Actions to Clarify Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Following Issuance of the Consolidated Decision, Rapanos v. U.S. 126 S. Ct. 2208 (S.Ct. 2006)


Please click here or the link above to view the
April edition of Wetland Breaking News. Or see links below.
 
w EDITOR'S NOTE w RESOURCES AND PUBLICATIONS
w EDITOR'S CHOICE [or see below]
 w POTPOURRI
w NATIONAL NEWS
 w JOB OPENINGS
w LEGISLATIVE NEWS
 w STUDENT JOBS
w STATE NEWS  w MEETINGS AND TRAINING
 
Editors Choice

Final Mitigation Rule
 

On March 31, 2008, EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) issued revised regulations governing compensatory mitigation for authorized impacts to wetlands, streams, and other waters of the U.S. under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. These regulations are designed to improve the effectiveness of compensatory mitigation to replace lost aquatic resource functions and area, expand public participation in compensatory mitigation decision making, and increase the efficiency and predictability of the mitigation project review process. Links to the final rule and supporting materials can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/wetlandsmitigation/  For additional stories, go to:  http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iGPgQ5dK1Rrbav9CG9DqpQF3oqDgD8VOIS6O1  and http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0331-06.htm

 
Survey Says Water Top Environmental Concern

When Americans are asked to rate their level of worry about each of 12 environmental concerns, their top four concerns relate to water quality, with pollution of drinking water the top overall concern. The poll results are available at:http://www.gallup.com/poll/104932/Polluted-Drinking-Water-No-Concern-Before-Report.aspx
 
Dangerous assumptions (climate change)
 

By Roger Pielke, et. al. – Nature – April 3, 2008
How big is the energy challenge of climate change? The technological advances needed to stabilize carbon-dioxide emissions may be greater than we think, argue Roger Pielke Jr, Tom Wigley and Christopher Green. - The United Nations Climate Conference in Bali in 2007 set the world on a two-year path to negotiate a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Yet not even the most rosy-eyed delegate could fail to recognize that stabilizing atmospheric carbon-dioxide concentrations is an enormous undertaking. Here we address the magnitude of the technological changes required to meet that challenge. We argue that the size of this technology challenge has been seriously underestimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), diverting attention from policies that could directly stimulate technological innovation. For full article, visit: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v452/n7187/full/452531a.html

 
PLJV Assessing Impacts of Climate Change on Playa Region
 

Playa Lakes Joint Venture – April 2008 Newsletter
In an effort to conserve birds now and into the future, the PLJV is conducting an assessment of the ongoing and predicted impacts of climate change on playas and other bird habitats in the region. The JV is working with Dr. John Matthews, Climate Adaptation Specialist for the World Wildlife Fund on the assessment, and a summary of Dr. Matthew's findings is now available as a Power Point presentation. For full article with link to the findings, go to: http://www.pljv.org/cms/latest-news#Story2

 
Senators push for bill to protect water quality
 

By Eric Niiler – Vermont Public Radio (VPR) – April 11, 2008
Vermont's senators are pushing for a bill that they say will ensure federal protection for water quality and biodiversity around Lake Champlain. Eric Niiler has the story. (Niiler) The bill is being debated in the Senate Environment Committee. It is designed to reverse two Supreme Court rulings that define the Clean Water Act as protecting only "navigable" waterways. That covers streams that flow year-round and their nearby wetlands. A federal study shows that about 17 percent of Vermont's wetlands are now left out of federal safeguards. For full story, go to: http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/80098/
 
Wetlands 2008 Call for Papers Extended to May 15
 

The Call for Papers for Wetlands 2008 has been extended to Thursday, May 15 2008. There was a great response to the initial call for papers. However, there is still some conference space available in the concurrent sessions for additional presentations and we have received requests for some additional time both to submit papers. Thank you to everyone who has submitted an abstract for Wetlands 2008; Wetlands and Global Climate Change. ASWM remains committed to making decisions on accepting or declining abstracts as close possible to the original May 16 date. Therefore, we encourage individuals who plan to submit abstracts to do so as soon as possible so that we can work toward meeting our original commitment.  The call for papers is posted at: http://www.aswm.org/calendar/wetlands2008/cfp_2008.htm
 
House and Senate Hearings Held on Clean Water Restoration Act
 

On April 16 the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing on the Clean Water Restoration Act.  The committee received testimony from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, representatives of State and local governments, environmental, agricultural, and industry interests, legal practitioners, and other stakeholders on the Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007.  More information about the hearing including the live webcast, background paper and testimony is available at: http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearingDetail.aspx?NewsID=486

The live webcast and written testimony for the hearing on April 9, 2008 is available at http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=
116d6ddd-802a-23ad-4f2f-4d329c912bb2

Please click here to view full Wetland Breaking News.


Migratory Bird & Wetland NewsLink - April Issue
Bimonthly International News Service


Return to top.
News
 
EPA’s Watershed Academy Will Hold a Free Webcast Seminar on Wetlands and Climate Change
[More Information]
Death Looms for a Flood-Control Project [Full Article]
NEW ASWM WEBPAGES

Wetlands and Farm Programs

State Wetland Delineator Certification Programs

How to Hire the Right Wetlands Consultant

How to Design a Wetlands Education & Regulatory Workshop

Coastal Wetland Dieback

Wetlands & Global Climate Change
WETLAND BREAKING NEWS
April 16, 2008 Edition
MIGRATORY BIRD & WETLAND NEWSLINK
April 2008 Issue
Bimonthly International News Service
ASWM PUBLICATIONS

Draft Paper for Review and Comment:
Wetlands and Natural Hazards (8-13-07)

Draft Discussion Paper for Review and Comment: Model Ordinances for Regulating Wetlands and Riparian Habitats/Stream Buffers (5/14/07)

Protecting and Restoring Wetlands: Strengthening the Role of Land Trusts (5/15/07)

Protecting and Restoring Wetlands: Strengthening the Role of Local Governments (5/15/07)

Developing Performance Standards for the Mitigation and Restoration of Northern Forested Wetland (8/1/06)

Wetland Protection and Restoration Guides for Local Communities and Nonprofits (6/26/06)

Reconciling Wetlands Assessment Techniques
(4/06)

Wetland Assessment for Regulatory Purposes: Report Series

A Guide for Local Governments: Wetlands and Watershed Management (10/1/03)

ASWM PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:

May 31, 2007

Wetland Warrior
Windham woman wins national award for protecting wetlands

Jeanne Christie of Windham said many people don’t understand why anyone would work to protect wetlands, which can be seen as mosquito-breeding swamps, insignificant puddles or eyesores standing in the way of development. Even colleagues tried to dissuade her from entering the field. [More]
ASWM SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES

To participate in planning, suggest meeting topics or speakers, or find out about hosting or sponsorship opportunities, visit our workshops and symposia page!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
2
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3
Photos by
Jeanne Christie, ASWM

Fancy Line Break

Google
Search www.aswm.org
Search WWW