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Educating
Citizens About the Importance of Wetlands and How to Avoid Violations
of the Clean Water Act
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| Several
city, state and regional wetland programs around the country have
incorporated wetlands education into their dredge & fill penalty programs.
This type of wetland education workshops are geared for either violators
or advocates of wetland laws, permits and regulations-and sometimes
both, when a class is designed for a general audience and takes a
preventative approach, rather than after violations occur. |
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| Project
POWER: Protecting our Wetlands with Educators and Regulators combines
the talents and resources of aquaria and regulatory agencies. Dr.
Merryl Kafka at the New York Aquarium is the current director of Project
POWER in New York. The program was founded by James Gilmore, Jr.,
who is the regional supervisor for the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation. Dr. Kafka says, "it's a model not a mandate."
The collaborative Project POWER workshop model has sent off-shoots
like rhizomes all over the country to at least 13 other state and
regional wetland programs. Project POWER partners are located in Washington,
California, North Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New York, Massachusetts,
New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. Many of these programs
have tailored their wetland education workshops to the needs of specific
communities at the local, state and regional levels. |
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| These four worksheets, which were developed by Project POWER in New York, may be useful in designing a variation of a Project POWER workshop or class in your city, county, state or region. One thing that may distinguish a new wetlands workshop program from others is the target audience. Will the workshop be aimed at violators of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act? Will the class be free and open to the public? Will violators and concerned citizens be mixed together for the purpose of creating positive peer-pressure and wetland advocacy? Will there be any incentives for violators to attend the class, such as reduced fines? Or will this be largely preventative and aimed at a general audience? Worksheets (in word format) | ||||||||||||
| ASWM identified a few wetland workshop programs that included a field component to the education. The City of Norfolk, Virginia, for example, takes workshop participants-both violators and concerned citizens, into local, familiar wetlands, where they seine for fish, dig for critters and learn to identify wetland plants. For a link to ASWM's recent article on Understanding Local, State and Federal Dredge & Fill Penalty Programs, go to: http://www.aswm.org/swp/design_wetlands/dredge_&_fill_0407.pdf | ||||||||||||
| NEWS | |
| Online video underscores the importance of urban wetlands |
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| EPA News Release – November 4, 2008 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has produced a 12- minute video, “Wetlands and Wonder: Reconnecting Children with Nearby Nature,” that makes a passionate case for protecting urban wetlands as places to experience nature. The film focuses on urban and suburban wetlands as valuable resources to be restored, protected and enjoyed. These places, often the only remnants of the natural world in developed areas, can play a key role in connecting people to nearby nature—thereby improving the health of our children and our communities. As more Americans dwell in cities and suburbs, our society becomes increasingly distanced from the natural world. This absence of everyday connections to nature has negative effects—especially for children. Wetlands can offer a solution to this problem. Pockets of remaining wetlands in developed areas often provide immediate and easy access to nature. Yet these wetlands may be threatened or degraded, and often go unnoticed. The video was produced by Darcy Campbell of EPA, Gene Reetz, a former EPA wetlands expert, and Colorado-based ECOS Communications. The video features interviews with Julia McCarthy, Joan Almon, Richard Louv, and Robert Michael Pyle. For additional copies of the DVD, contact the National Service Center for Environmental Publications at 800-490-9198 or go to http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/education/wetlandsvideo/ to view the video online. |
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| NY:
Stressing Education to Reduce Violations By Matt Dalen – Lewisboro Ledger – April 10, 2008 Is a permit required to do gardening work within 150 feet of a wetland? How about to cut down trees? Or to lay sand down on a beach? The answer to all of these is maybe. The Lewisboro Planning Board regularly reviews violations of the town wetlands law, often by people who have been misinformed or who just didn’t realize their actions required a permit. Now, with a new initiative, the board is attempting to reduce the number of people charged with violations by educating residents about when a wetlands permit is required. “Everybody is aware that when you do some work on your house, you’ll probably need a building permit,” town wetlands inspector Bruce Barber told The Ledger. “We want to encourage people, if they’re working on their site, to think, Do they need a wetlands permit?” For full story, go to: http://www.acorn-online.com/news/publish/lewisboro/31745.shtml |
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| Additional Resources | ||||
| Kevin
Du Bois, P.W.S. Environmental Engineer VA Certified Wetland Delineator Director, Norfolk Wetlands Education Seminar Bureau of Environmental Services Norfolk, VA 23510 (757) 664-4369 kevin.dubois@norfolk.gov Dr. Merryl Kafka Curator of Education New York Aquarium Director, Project POWER (718) 265-3452 MKafka@wcs.org Please contact Merryl Kafka if interested in becoming a Project POWER partner. For a link to NY Aquarium, visit: http://www.nyaquarium.com/ |
 City of Norfolk, VA |
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| David W. Gibson Senior Environmental Scientist Southern Watershed Protection Unit California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Region 9 San Diego, CA (858) 467-4387 dgibson@waterboards.ca.gov http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sandiego/ Dave Gibson coordinated a Project POWER workshop in San Diego (partnered with the San Diego Zoological Society) in January 2007. For a link to one of the presentations from that workshop, go to: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sandiego/programs/401cert/Project%20Power%20Final%201_13_2007.pdf |
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| Alice Smith Wetlands Circuit Rider Coordinator MassDEP's Wetlands Circuit Rider Program http://www.aswm.org/member/wetlandnews/april_2007/overview_of_mass_ dep_circuit_rider_program.pdf and visit http://mass.gov/dep/water/resources/cridr.htm Alice Smith presented on the wetland permitting process at a Wetlands Matters workshop at New England Aquarium in April 2007. To view one of the MassDEP's presentations for the workshop, go to: http://www.aswm.org/member/wetlandnews/april_2007/wetland_matters_ presentation.pdf |
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| American Rivers has just written a new draft citizens' guide to understanding the Army Corps of Engineers' permitting process under Clean Water Act. Here is a link to the draft guide. The final version may be available on their website by August 2007. http://www.aswm.org/member/wetlandnews/april_2007/3_regulatory_corps_guide_draft.pdf | |||
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Army Corps of Engineers, New England district: http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/ All Army Corps of Engineers districts: http://www.usace.army.mil/cw/cecwo/reg/district.htm Wetlands 404 Permit Training Seminars (taught by a retired Corps Engineer) Boss International http://www.training.bossintl.com/html/ wetlands-404-permitting-traini.html Association of Massachusetts Wetland Scientists (AMWS) http://amws.org/ (main website) Workshops on difficult wetland delineations, negotiating business ethics, New England http://amws.org/upcoming_workshops.html |
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A Local Ordinance to Protect Wetland Functions Wetlands and Watersheds Article #4 (in a Six-part Series) Center for Watershed Protection ~ Prepared for the Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, EPA – December 2007 Authors: Beth Strommen, Karen Cappiella, David Hirschman, and Julie Tasillo. This article introduces a new type of model ordinance for local protection of wetlands. Existing federal and state wetland permitting programs address some direct impacts to wetlands, such as filling, but are not designed to regulate inputs of stormwater or other pollutants. Local development regulations can fill this gap in wetland protection since local governments typically have control over local land use regulations and decisions. For a link to this document, visit the Center for Watershed Protection website at: http://www.cwp.org/ or go directly to: http://www.cwp.org/wetlands/articles/WetlandsArticle4.pdf |
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| National Marine Educators Association http://www.marine-ed.org/ |
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This webpage last updated December 30,
2008.
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