Association News ~ by Jeanne Christie

Spring has arrived in southern Maine.  We celebrated Mother’s Day (my parents, husband and I) by helping a local organic farmer put the plastic covering on a 100 by 40 foot greenhouse.  We all arrived at 7:30 a.m. to get the plastic attached before the wind picked up. (We did not want to go parasailing across the fields.)  By 9:30 the plastic was on but not before two very distressed Canadian geese discovered our project.  The pair appeared and disappeared  flying over the greenhouse and then leaving only to return again honking over and over.

It has been a very busy spring.  We are getting ready to host a series of presentations at the Society of Wetland Scientists’ “Capitalizing on Wetlands” conference in Washington, DC May 26-30th.  A link to the agenda for the ASWM session is on our webpage at http://www.aswm.org/calendar/sws_aswm.htm#schedule.  Information on the overall conference can be found at http://www.sws.org/2008_meeting/index.html

For information on events, visit our calendar at http://aswm.org/calendar/index.htm

This week the Call for Papers also closes for Wetlands 2008.  Registration is open and already we’ve received a half-dozen registrations for the conference.  Wetlands 2008 will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Portland, Oregon.  The Doubletree hotel has earned a Green Seal GS-33 Lodging Sustainability certification.  We are encouraging everyone who attends to minimize their carbon footprint.  Check out http://www.aswm.org/calendar/wetlands2008/greenseal.pdf  for more information about the Green Seal certification and ideas about how to support sustainability while participating at Wetlands 2008.

We are continuing to make efforts to improve the ASWM website.  There are new links to news stories on the main webpage at www.aswm.org each week.  Sharon Weaver, our webmaster, is working on reorganizing and adding drop-down menus to the webpages so that it is easier to find information.  In addition we have plans underway to launch a blog.  The ASWM website receives thousands of visits each day.  In April there were almost 350,000 hits.  If we can do more to improve the website and provide better information, please send me an e-mail at Jeanne.christie@aswm.org

National News

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the final compensatory mitigation rule in April.  The final rule incorporates many of the comments and recommendations submitted during the public comment period.  Specifically it:

1) confirmed that the Corps is required to follow the 404 (b) (1) guidelines,
2) clarified the requirement to provide compensatory mitigation for streams,
3) reduced where possible discretionary language to provide clearer direction, and
4) provided additional information on the appropriate application of a watershed approach to compensatory mitigation.

The agencies worked hard to try to balance specific direction and guidance with theility to adapt to different landscapes.  ASWM hosted two conference calls between the agencies and the states to answer questions immediately following publication of the rule.  Feedback from the states has been generally positive.  The rule does provide for the continuation of in lieu fee programs which many states wanted and the more specific requirements will address some of the problems that have occurred implementing in lieu fee in specific states.  The clear requirement for mitigating alterations of streams was also welcomed by many states.

While the agencies sought to provide more certainty in application of compensatory mitigation, there is still considerable flexibility allowed by the Corps District and the states in general believe that the ultimate success of the rule rests with working with each Corps District to identify the correct balance.  This is important because many states have compensatory mitigation rules and policies in place as well and they will continue to work with the Corps to coordinate federal and state programs under the new rule.  The final rule, questions and answers, fact sheet and other information is available at:
http://www.epa.gov/wetlandsmitigation/

[National News continued in PDF]