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32 Tandberg Trail, Suite 2A
Windham, ME 04062
207-892-3399
FAX: 207-892-3089
aswm@aswm.org |
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NEWS
OF INTEREST
Updated September 1, 2010
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Restoring the Gulf's Priceless Natural Resources
By Lisa Jackson - White House Blog – August 27, 2010
I grew up in New Orleans. As a chemical engineering student at Tulane University, I worked and studied in the local environment, particularly the wetlands, marshes and swamps. I saw then that the wetlands were the beating heart of the region. The coastal waters support a multi-billion-dollar fishing industry that is a way of life for many families and communities. The rich sediment and marsh grasses help filter pollution and provide the home for a priceless and delicate ecosystem. And the abundant vegetation growing above the surface helps buffer storm surges during hurricanes – a vital function whose importance was all too apparent after Hurricane Katrina. For full blog, go to: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/27/restoring-gulfs-priceless-natural-resources
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VT: State restores lost wetlands to protect Lake Champlain
By Candace Page – Burlington Free Press – August 27, 2010
Last year, the retired dairyman conceded defeat. He stopped growing crops on 130 acres of wet fields and joined an effort aimed at nothing less than reversing 100 years of wetland conversion in the Champlain Valley. Forrest pocketed $253,780 for selling the federal government a conservation easement. His drained acres are being transformed back into wetlands. http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100827/NEWS02/100826026/State-restores-lost-wetlands-to-protect-Lake-Champlain#ixzz0xpXXfwdq
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FUTURE ASWM WORKSHOPS AND SYMPOSIA
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Please click here or the link above to view the
August edition of Wetland Breaking News. Or see links below.
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| Editors Choice |
| EPA Announces Public Comment Period for Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments: Four Case Studies of Water Utility Practices |
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EPA is announcing a 45-day public comment period for the draft document titled, Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment: Four Case Studies of Water Utility Practices. The document was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment within EPA's Office of Research and Development. This draft report presents a series of case studies describing the approaches currently being taken by four water utilities to assess their vulnerability to future climate change. The report is intended to illustrate the types of analyses, models, and climate change information being developed and used by selected utilities that are leaders in climate adaptation to understand and respond to climate risk. The public comment period is open until October 7, 2010. The EPA Federal Register Notice is posted at: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-20838.htm. Information is also available at: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/global/recordisplay.cfm?deid=226435. |
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| Surviving the Next Katrina |
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By Jonathan Cohn – Blog – The New Republic – August 19, 2010
Everybody wants to know whether New Orleans can survive the next big hurricane. Few of them realize that it should have survived the last one. Katrina was not a category five storm and it didn’t even hit New Orleans directly. At the last minute, it veered northeast, making its final landfall on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Katrina was massive enough to inflict damage far away from the eye, so it was bound to take its toll on New Orleans, too. But if not for a series of human errors, some of them dating back decades, the flooding would have been far less severe. For full blog, go to: http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-cohn/77126/can-new-orleans-survive-next-big-hurricane |
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| Climate Change Impact on Freshwater Wetlands, Lakes & Rivers (a blog by Scott Mandia) |
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August 16, 2010 - This blog cites ASWM’s Jon Kusler’s work on climate change & wetlands (just under photo of bull trout). Freshwater ecosystems provide a wide range of goods and services. Wetlands exhibit extensive biodiversity, function as filters for pollutants, and are important for carbon sequestration and emissions. Rivers transport water and nutrients from the land to the oceans and provide crucial buffering capacity during droughts especially if fed by mountain springs and glaciers. http://profmandia.wordpress.com/2010/0816/ climate-change-impact-on-freshwaterwetlands-lakes-rivers/ |
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| Coming Together for Clean Water: EPA’s Strategy for Achieving Clean Water |
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EPA Blog - Public Discussion Draft – August 15, 2010
On April 15, 2010, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson brought together a diverse group of individuals to discuss and explore opportunities for reinvigorating EPA’s approaches to achieving clean water in America. At this forum, The Coming Together for Clean Water, Administrator Jackson stated her desire “to see a huge leap forward in water quality as we saw in the 1970s after the passage of the Clean Water Act.” The forum was one of many drivers for this strategy which charts EPA’s path to achieve that leap forward in our nation’s water quality and outlines a sustainable approach to meet our economic needs and improve the quality of the nation’s water for generations to come. EPA’s approach focuses around our two thematic lines: 1) healthy watersheds, and 2) sustainable communities – both critical Administration and EPA priorities. For full discussion draft, go to: https://blog.epa.gov/waterforum/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Coming-
Together-for-Clean-Water-Disc-Draft-Aug-2010-FINAL.pdf |
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| LA: Many problems linked by one theme - degradation of coastal wetlands |
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By Bob Marshall – Times Picayune – August 15, 2010
At first glance, three issues percolating in the local outdoor community last week had little in common. An algae bloom that looked like dispersed oil was racing across Breton and Chandeleur sounds. A plan to flood rice fields for ducks in southwest Louisiana made some hunters wonder "Why?" A stiff west wind was pushing water over some roads in Plaquemines Parish. For full story, go to: http://www.nola.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2010/08/many_problems_linked_
by_one_th.html
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| Satellite data yield better wetlands maps |
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UPI – August 13, 2010
New accurate maps of Chesapeake Bay wetlands will help in studies of areas critical to the health of bodies of water like the Bay, U.S. researchers say. Two U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists used satellite data to created new maps 30 percent more accurate than existing ones, a USDA release said Friday August 13th. Because many wetlands are forested, it can be hard to see the wetlands on aerial photography. Trees block the view and maps drawn from aerial photographs are subjective, causing more loss of accuracy, the release said. For full story, go to: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/08/13/Satellite-data-yield-better-
wetlands-maps/UPI-26671281741989/ |
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| Activists: More Flood Protection Needed in Iowa |
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By Mike Glover – Claims Journal – August 9, 2010
Environmental advocates and Iowa state and city officials are urging the state to expand wetlands and flood plain protections, arguing that the changing climate is increasing the danger of flooding. "Flooding across the state is becoming a growing threat due to changes in land use and as rivers are increasingly cut off from their flood plains," said Mark Tercek, president of the Nature Conservancy. Iowa is in a crucial spot because of both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, he said. The Missouri River drains roughly one-sixth of the United States, while the Mississippi River empties directly into the Gulf of Mexico. For full article, go to: http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/midwest/2010/08/09/112297.htm |
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| Climate Change: How Adapting to Warming Could Make It Worse (Melting Permafrost) |
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By Bryan Walsh - Time (blog) – August 5, 2010
Positive feedback cycles—they're what keeps climatologists up at night. The term describes the way that certain ecological responses to a warming climate can further accelerate warming, creating a feedback cycle that can spiral out of control. Take the billions and billions of tons of methane buried beneath the Arctic permafrost. Methane is about 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but fortunately, those vast stores in the Arctic are locked beneath frozen soil, for the most part unable to escape and add to the greenhouse effect. For full blog post, go to: http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2010/08/05/climate-change-how-adapting-to-
warming-could-make-it-worse/ |
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| A fine set of U.S. vegetation maps |
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Birding Community E-bulletin – August 8, 2010
What is probably the most detailed national vegetation U.S. land-cover map to date for the continental U.S. was released in mid-June by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The map will enable conservationists to identify places in the Lower-48 States with sufficient habitat to support wildlife, including birds. Produced by the USGS Gap Analysis Program (GAP), the maps can be viewed online and even downloaded – in six parts - for free at:
www.gap.uidaho.edu/landcoverviewer.html |
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Please click here to view full Wetland Breaking News.
Migratory Bird & Wetland NewsLink -
[This is currently discontinued due to lack of funds] |
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This website last updated September 1, 2010.
Comments or suggestions may be directed to webmaster@aswm.org.
This page has received 
visitors since May 20, 2002
32 Tandberg Trail, Suite 2A
Windham, ME 04062
207-892-3399; FAX: 207-892-3089; aswm@aswm.org
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