Home
wetland sign and crocs
- Details
- Written by charlie
- Category: Latest
Check out this sign found in the Australia's largest National park, Kakadu. At t 20,000 square kilometers, it has an abundance of wetlands with apparently very dangerous estuarine crocodiles.
http://through5eyes.com/2011/07/10/lazy-days-in-croc-country/
2,000th Ramsar Wetland!
- Details
- Written by charlie
- Category: Latest
Congratulations to Ramsar, who have identified and placed 2,000 exceptional wetlands, covering almost 200,000,000 hectares, onto the List of Wetlands of International Importance. The 2,000 sites constitute the largest network of protected areas in the world.
Wisconsin's New Wetland Law
- Details
- Written by charlie
- Category: Latest
<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } A:link { so-language: zxx } -->
On February 29, 2012, Wisconsin's Governor Walker signed the Wetland Development Bill into law.
Prior to its passage, the mission and intent behind the permitting process was to ensure landowners either avoided or minimized impacts to wetlands. The new law creates a dual path for wetland permits, developers can either apply for a general permit or individual permit, and are now required to submit a mitigation plan as a part of the wetland permit application. The mitigation plan can vary from buying credits at a mitigation bank, paying the DNR to support the agency's wetland restoration work, or enhancing or restoring wetlands within the surrounding watershed. Opponents of the new law believe the new mitigation plan requirement will depreciate the need for minimizing impacts.
The law also expands the definition of “practicable alternatives” from
means available and capable of being implemented after taking into consideration cost, available technology and logistics in light of overall project purposes.
To the following:
reasonably available and capable of being implemented after taking into consideration cost, site availability, available technology, logistics, and proximity of the proposed project site, in light of the overall purpose and scope of the project.
Making this more contentious are recent studies concluding that created wetland and mitigated sites rarely, if ever, recover their true wetland functionality prior to disruption.
Unsurprising, the bill was passed without the endorsement from a single wetland professional or Wisconsin environmental group, as it was unnecessary. According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) they granted permits for 93% of all projects within 22 days from January 1st through September 30th, 2011.
Read more:
National Law Review
http://www.natlawreview.com/article/governor-signs-wetlands-reform-bill-2011-wisconsin-act-118
Wisconsin Rapids Tribune
(http://dnr.wi.gov/waterways/about_us/permit_process.html)
Wetlands in the News
28 March 2024
-
Wetlands are disappearing quickly across the United States
A new report released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reveals wetlands — 95% of which are freshwater — covered less than 6% of the lower 48 states as of 2019. That is half the area they covered...
-
Gorgeous 4K Footage of a Winter Starling Murmuration Swooping Over the Yorkshire Wetlands
Robert E Fuller captured gorgeous 4K footage of a winter starling murmuration swooping over the Ripon City Wetlands in Yorkshire, England.
-
As feds stand down, states choose between wetlands protections or rollbacks
For 200 miles, the Wabash River forms the border between Illinois and Indiana as it meanders south to the Ohio River. On the Illinois side, lawmakers are scrambling to pass a bill that would protect...
-
Beaver Creek homeowners mount challenge to developer seeking to build homes on a parcel long thought to be undevelopable wetlands
A long-forgotten parcel at Beaver Creek is being eyed by a developer who seeks to build on land that nearby homeowners have previously understood to be undevelopable wetlands. The 13.8-acre parcel,...
-
More stringent wetlands, stream oversight proposed as Colorado lawmakers aim to fill regulatory gap left by U.S. Supreme Court
Colorado lawmakers will consider a new proposal to replace federal stream protections wiped out by U.S. Supreme Court in 2023...