Comments for The Compleat Wetlander

Comment on Strange Wetlands: Romantic Ecology – Fairy Tale or Serious Thing? by Leah

Leah — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:16:46 +0000

Oh, neato. I like the tiny world that you’ve created/blogged about. Reminds me of fairy houses.

Comment on Strange Wetlands: Romantic Ecology – Fairy Tale or Serious Thing? by simon sinkinson

simon sinkinson — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:42:54 +0000

thought you might like this tale of naughty frogs
http://tinydoorsdotcom.blogspot.com/

Comment on Strange Wetlands: Sons & Daughters of the Nature-Study Movement by Greg Dehler

Greg Dehler — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 03:56:04 +0000

Hi Leah,
Nice post! William Hornaday worked with the Federation of Women’s Clubs in the 1920s and I would guess that many of those women found their inspiration for conservation in the nature study movement. After all, men had two paths to conservation that many women could have taken, hunting /fishing and professional studies (forestry, for example).

Comment on The Compleat Wetlander: Are Wetlands Saving Us from a Changing Climate? by Scott

Scott — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:26:32 +0000

All this time I thought I was the only Wetlander. Google alerts show me otherwise. Hello, fellow Wetlander.

Comment on A Strange Wetlands Halloween: How to Make a “Swampthing” Costume by Jacqueline Mason

Jacqueline Mason — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:57:09 +0000

Ha! This is fun- I will have to share this. Very creative costume ideas!

Comment on The Compleat Wetlander: Climate change adaptation: As the world changes so will people by David Dow

David Dow — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:15:48 +0000

There is a need for local communities to both mitigate and adapt to climate change effects on their natural and socioeconomic systems. As a grassroots environmental activist living on Cape Cod, we need to develop an adaptation plan that focuses on both the natural and socioeconomic components of resilience. Since our saltwater wetlands have constraints to inland migration (roads; rail lines; houses and other infrastructure) as sea level rises, there are not many low cost options to address this challenge, given the current tight budgetary situation.

We need to reduce our per capita energy consumption through insulating homes and businesses; making greater use of solar and wind energy; improving our public transportation system and car pooling; combining trips when we go shopping; etc. Since Cape Cod is facing major expenditures to upgrade our wastewater infrastructure from septic systems and to increase our solid waste recycling rates to compensate for increasing tipping fees, the crises of the moment preclude serious discussion on mitigation/adaptation schemes to address climate disruption. The major focus is on the reality that half of our homeowners can’t purchase private homeowners insurance (being forced into the state system of last resort) and that we are faced with rising rates/5-10% wind deductibles in all of the homeowner insurance products.

I am sure that Cape Cod is not unique in the constraints that we face in making the transition to sustainability in an effort to reduce our ecological footprints. This problem will be more acute in coastal regions facing rapid population growth.

Comment on The Compleat Wetlander: Make a Difference Commenting on the Draft CWA Guidance by Jeanne Christie

Jeanne Christie — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:10:15 +0000

It is tough for anyone, even a ‘techspert’ to wade through 40+ pages of guidance. But guidance cannot change what is in rules or legislation or decisions handed down by the court. It can only interpret those things. That is what this guidance attempts to do. It would replace existing guidance http://www.usace.army.mil/CECW/Documents/cecwo/reg/cwa_guide/cwa_juris_2dec08.pdf The result would be to identify more small streams as jurisdictional than the older guidance. But an estimated 20 million acres of wetlands would remain not subject to the Clean Water Act as they have been since a Supreme Court decision (SWANNC) in 2001.

Comment on Strange Wetlands — Dragonflies: Baby Got Brackish by albert Beck

albert Beck — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:26:57 +0000

In 1959, I worked as a medical entomologist for the State of So. Carolina. While meeting with a large land owner in the coastal area, we noted a large dragonfly (mosquito hawk) hatch eliminating a hatch of salt marsh (Aedes) mosquitoes. The plantation owner and I discussed what happened. I explained that this was a fortunate occurrence, but of relatively short duration.

He offered to pay for a master’s degree at Clemson University and use of plantation lands and any equipment needed for dragonfly production. While I roughed out a methodology for dragonfly production, I could not come up with a reasonable way to produce large enough numbers ccntinuously to be effective.

Comment on The Compleat Wetlander: Make a Difference Commenting on the Draft CWA Guidance by John C. Bender

John C. Bender — Sat, 14 May 2011 22:24:09 +0000

All I’ve heard about the subject is the claim the new act contains a Federal “power grab” that would allegedly expand jurisdiction over most waters in the nation. Not a techspert, I’m usure what to make of this.

Comment on The Compleat Wetlander: Communicate in Plain Language to Build Support for Wetlands by Sally Chetwynd

Sally Chetwynd — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 04:49:27 +0000

Although I am currently blogging on my personal interests, I will soon be blogging regularly for a friend who is starting up a business related to wetlands, flooding, and remediation. I spent several years in land use planning, but that was quite a number of years ago. Blog posts like this one will be highly valuable to me as I climb back into the environmental saddle. Thank you!