Federal Agencies

	w	U.S. Geological Survey
	w	Environmental Protection Agency
	w	EPA Region 2 Wetlands Protection Program
	w	EPA Region 10
	w	EPA Water Quality Standards
	w	American Indian Environmental Office
	w	NOAA
	w	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
	w	Natural Resources Conservation Service (links to USDA, NACD, FSA, RD, FS, CSREES)
	w	NRCS Wetlands Reserve Program
	w	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
	w	Wetlands Program - Environment - FHWA

State Natural Resource Agencies [For a complete list of links to states with wetland programs click here

	w	California Department of Water Resources
	w	Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
	w	Florida Department of Environmental Protection
	w	Indiana Department of Environmental Management Office of Water Quality
	w	Maine Natural Resources Protection Act
	w	Maryland Wetlands and Waterways Program
	w	Massachussetts Department of Environmental Protection: Waters, Wastewaters, & Wetlands
	w	Massachussetts Office of Coastal Zone Management
	w	Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Wetands Protection
	w	Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources Wetlands Program
	w	Missouri's Wetland's and Their Management
	w	New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Wetlands Bureau
		w	NH Wetland Fact Sheets
		w	NH Wetlands Council
	w	New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Freshwater Wetlands Program
	w	New Mexico Wetlands Conservation Plan
	w	New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
	w	Oregon Division of State Lands Wetlands Resources
	w	Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Hotlink "Wetlands"
	w	Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Office of Water Resources
	w	State of Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
	w	Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation
	w	Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation
	w	Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
	w	Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
		w	WI DNR Wetland Compensatory Mitigation program

National Program and Research Centers

	w	National Wetlands Inventory
	w	National Wetlands Research Center
	w	EPA: Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds
	w	EPA: Water Qulaity Standards
	w	USGS Scientific Assessment and Strategy Team (Upper Mississippi Lower Missouri)
	w	USGS National Marine and Coastal Geology Program
	w	USGS Water Resources Information Homepage
	w	USGS National Wildlife Health Center
	w	National Water Quality Assessment Program
	w	Wetlands Research Program (Army Corps of Engineers)
	w	ACOE Regulatory Program
	w	Hydraulics Laboratory (Army Corps of Engineers)
	w	Natural Heritage Network EDUCATION AND SANCTUARIES
	w	Surf Your Watershed (EPA)
	w	Kennedy Space Center Ecological Resources
	w	Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, Maryland

Non-Governmental Organizations

	w	Society of Wetlands Scientists
	w	Association of State Floodplain Managers
	w	Local Government Environmental Action Network
	w	National Wildlife Federation: Wetlands
	w	Ducks Unlimited Canada
	w	New York State Wetlands Forum
	w	American Whitewater Affiliation
	w	International Rivers Network
	w	Wetlands International
	w	Restore America's Estuaries
	w	Playa Lakes Joint Venture
	w	Center for Watershed Protection (Added 1-10-06)

County Government Agencies

	w	Westchester County (NY) Department of Planning - information related to wetlands; Aquatic Restoration Program, which includes wetland restoration projects.

Other Links and Directory Pages

	w	HerpDigest
	w	American Society of International Law
	w	Ecological Society of America
	w	Wetland Hot Links From OSU's Olentangy River Wetlands Research Park
	w	WETNET - Texas Wetland Information Network
	w	World-Wide Wetland, Hydrology and Coastal Links
	w	WetKit A Canadian Online Wetlands Toolkit
	w	City of Fort Worth, TX Dept. of Environmental Management
	w	Waste-Water Web Links
	w	Conservation, Diversity and Ecological
	w	The American Planning Association
	w	Appalachian Regional Commission
	w	Council on Licensure, Enforcement, And Regulation
	w	Great Lakes Commission
	w	International City/County Management Association
	w	National Association of Attorney's General
	w	National Association of Counties
	w	National Association of County and City Health Officials
	w	National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals
	w	National Association of Regional Councils
	w	National Civic League
	w	National Governors Association
	w	U.S. Conference of Mayors
	w	Mid-Atlantic Regional Assessment of Climate Change Impacts
	w	Acclimations Newsletter of the National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Change
	w	Endangered Species and Wetlands Reports
	w	Web-Agri Agricultural Search Engine
	w	Hancor (Commercial) - supplier of wetland structures and pipe systems for water management and conservation projects
	w	Environmental Concern
	w	Wetland Wizard - an online database for organizing wetland delineation projects, recording delineation data, and printing wetland delineation data forms.
	w	Reptiles Directory
	w	Natural Capital Resources Foundation - achieves wetland preservation and restoration through “marsh to market” initiatives.

WETLAND TRAINING
Also see http://www.aswm.org/calendar/calendar.htm

	w	Institute for Wetland & Environmental Education & Research, Inc.
	w	Richard Chinn Environmental Training, Inc.
	w	Portland State University School of Extended Studies
	w	Duncan & Duncan Wetland and Endangered Species Training
	w	Olentangy River Wetland Research Park, The Ohio State University

Volunteer Monitoring

	w	"Volunteer Wetland Monitoring: An Introduction and Resource Guide" (EPA 843-B-00-001) May 2002

Smart Growth

	w	Smart Growth Website An online resource designed to facilitate and support smart growth development including smart growth policies, technical tools, etc.
	w	New Community Design to the Rescue – Fulfilling Another American Dream From the National Governor’s Association. Presents new policy solutions to sprawl that are aimed at correcting problems at the local government level, addresses health, transportation, housing, energy, and environmental issues, and includes an NGA checklist for evaluating projects, places, and communities for their consistency with smart growth principles.
	w	Development at the Urban Fringe and Beyond: Impacts on Agriculture and Rural Land Describes the forces driving development, its character and impacts on agriculture and rural communities, the means available to channel and control growth, and the pros and cons of potential Federal roles.

Watersheds

	w	Center for Watershed Protection
	w	EPA Watershed Training Opportunities

Economic Values

	w	Pricing the Priceless: Cost-Benefit Analysis of Environmental Protection

Bioassessment

	w	"Methods for Evaluating Wetland Condition"

OH DSW Release Wetlands Bioassessment Technical Report

11/29/01. A new technical report is available on Ohio Division of Surface Water’s Wetlands Bioassessment program page: Vegetation Indices of Biotic Integrity (VIBI) for Wetlands: ecoregional, hydrogeomorphic, and plant community comparisons with preliminary wetland aquatic life use designations (PDF 781K) Visit http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/wetlands/wetland_bioasses.html

HGM

	w	ERDC/EL TR-02-4 "A Regional Guidebook for Applying the Hydrogeomorphic Approach to Assessing Wetland Functions of Selected Regional Wetland Subclasses, Yazoo Basin, Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley"
	w	ERDC/EL TR-02-3 "Hydrogeomorphic Approach to Assessing Wetland Functions: Guidelines for Developing Regional Guidebooks; Chapter 1, Introduction and Overview of the Hydrogeomorphic Approach"
	w	"Hydrogeomorphic Approach to Assessing Wetland Functions: Guidelines for Developing Regional Guidebooks" Chapter 4: Developing Assessment Models byR. Daniel Smith and James S. Wakeley http://www.wes.army.mil/el/wetlands/pdfs/trel01-30.pdf
	w	"Hydrogeomorphic Approach to Assessing Wetland Functions: Guidelines for Developing Regional Guidebooks" Chapter 3: Developing a Reference Wetland System byR. Daniel Smith http://www.wes.army.mil/el/wetlands/pdfs/trel01-29.pdf
	w	"Hydrogeomorphic Approach to Assessing Wetland Functions: Guidelines for Developing Regional Guidebooks" Chapter 7: Verifying, Field Testing, and Validating Assessment Models byJames S. Wakeley and R. Daniel Smith http://www.wes.army.mil/el/wetlands/pdfs/trel01-31.pdf

Invasive Species

	w	National Aquatic Nuisance Species Clearinghouse An international library of research, public policy, and outreach education publications pertaining to invasive marine and fresh water aquatic nuisance species in North America. Home of North America's most extensive library of publications related to the spread, biology, impacts and control of zebra mussels.
	w	Weeds on the Web http://tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/ The Wildland Invasive Species Program of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) hosts this site on the invasive plants currently threatening the biodiversity of wild lands in the US. Information on weeds (what they are, which ones are worst), weed control methods, and suggestions for educators including action in lesson plans. Also at the site are lists of effective weed tools, weeds in the news, and links to weed-related events. [LXP]
	w	Invasive Species Council and Invasive Species Advisory Committee

Global Invasive Species Database – ISSG

http://www.issg.org/database/welcome/ "The newly online (but still under construction) Global Invasive Species Database was developed by the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) . . . The entry page of the Website offers background information on invasive species and instructions on how to use the database. A section entitled 100 of the worst (ranging from Rat to Purple Loosestrife) gives viewers an idea of the type of information that will be included in the database, both in terms of expected detail and organizational structure of the database. Types of information provided for each species include Ecology, Distribution, Habitat Matches, References, and Contacts. In addition, a Predictive feature allows viewers to predict the expansion of invasive species, and the Early Warning System matches habitats that the species has already invaded with "other similar habitats around the world." Although still under construction, this database should be a powerful tool for researchers and educators, once completed.

Plant ID

	w	CBF Field Guide to Underwater Grasses A simple but effective identification key for the Chesapeake’s underwater grasses.

USGS Has Regional Plant Books Online

[12/14/00, posted to ELI-list serve] The USGS has produced a series of regional plant books for use by their field staff. They are not complete in the sense of being a flora, but have most of the common species and many of the important rare ones. The guides are available online and also can be purchased, or downloaded for use offline (BIG files!). For more try the links below. You also could go to the USGS biological resources website (http://biology.usgs.gov). Northeast http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/1999/neflor/neflor.htm Minnesota and Wisconsin http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/1998/mnplant/mnplant.htm Midwest http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/othrdata/plntguid/PLNTGUID.HTM You might also try http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/resource.htm or http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/taxa_P.htm

Plants Database

EPA Internet Newsbrief, 3/3/00. The PLANTS Database is a single source of standardized information about plants. This database focuses on plants of the U.S. and its territories and includes: names, checklists, automated tools, identification information, species abstracts, distributional data, crop information, plant symbols, plant growth data, plant materials information, plant links, references, and other plant information. The database is searchable by common or scientific names.

Photographs

	w	Free Conservation and Natural Resources Photos Online About 1,500 conservation-related images that can be downloaded, organized in a database that allows users to search 54 categories from 30 States using key categories like buffers, conservation tillage, water quality and wildlife. JPEGs and TIFFs

Dam Removal

	w	Dam Removal: A Citizen's Guide to Restoring Rivers Provides information and guidance about how to restore free and healthy flowing rivers through selective dam removal

Stormwater

	w	National Stormwater BMP Database
	w	Stormwater Strategies Second Edition The manual highlights successful U.S. storm water control programs. A widely accepted set of storm water management strategies with the primary goals of reducing the amount of urban runoff, improving water quality, and protecting public health using low cost techniques distributed throughout the community. Combines a variety of storm water management approaches into a flexible, cost-efficient, environmentally effective system that provides a variety of other economic, environmental and aesthetic benefits.
	w	Online Stormwater Training And Certification

New Website on Nonpoint Source Capacity Building

This website, put together by the Nonpoint Source Capacity Building and Funding Work Group (a joint State-EPA workgroup), provides watershed groups and local governments links to technical tools for scientific support, engineering support, information technology, assistance with legal issues, project management, outreach, and planning support. It also provides links to legal resources for activities such as permitting, enforcement, contracting, fund raising, and resource management. For additional information visit the website at http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/partnership.html

Riparian

	w	"Riparian Areas: Functions and Strategies for Management"

Journals and Online Research

	w	Journal of Great Lakes Research
	w	Atlas of the Reptiles and Amphibians of Vermont
	w	Ramsar Wetland Data Gateway
	w	Land Survey Information (LSI) Web site - provides users with geographic information from the BLM's Geographic Coordinate Data Base (GCDB) representing the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) of the United States
	w	Biological literature on wetland and riparian habitats [limited to North America non-tidal environments and the years 1990-2000] Look under the header, "Literature Reviews." The 217-page report downloadable at this web site is organized by major taxon (one chapter each). Within each of these chapters, there is a compilation of North American literature covering various stressors. Much public attention has been given to physical loss of wetlands worldwide, but these reports call attention to losses to wetland quality, as reflected by biological communities.
	w	TerraFly Enables GIS Image Viewing Online, Seamlessly - Web-based application that allows users to view Geographic Information Systems (GIS) images. Enables users to view the images continuously and seamlessly, giving the user a feeling of "flying over" the photographed land areas. Different resolutions are available, and the interface is extremely slick though somewhat complicated initially.
	w	"Effects of Management Practices on Wetland Birds" A series of literature syntheses containing information on the habitat needs and management response of many species of North American wetland birds.
	w	Waterfowl Population Estimates and Trends by Species & Region (1997) Presents crucial baseline information on population numbers and trends for every waterbird population in the world. It includes estimates for 1,924 populations of all 840 species in the world recognized as waterbirds.
	w	Great Lakes Environmental Directory An extensive on-line resource of environmental information related to the Great Lakes basin. The Directory includes an on-line library of hundreds of Great Lakes environmental articles and contact information for over 1,000 organizations. Also included are Great Lakes activist resources (grants, free environmental software/ downloads, advocacy tools and other environmental resources).
	w	National Wetlands Biogeochemical Database (NWBD) Serves as a reference data set for biogeochemical parameters at different regional, community, and temporal scales. Data contributors are invited to participate using NWBD's on-site contact information.
	w	American Bryophyte Collection More than 100,000 specimens of bryophytes from Central America, Mexico and the West Indies will be added by 2004. The catalog contains 200,000 specimens from Canada, Greenland and the United States and is available on the Web.
	w	NC Atlas of Freshwater Mussels and Endangered Fish
	w	WETMAAP - Wetlands Education Through Maps And Aerial Photography A geographic approach that combines aerial photography, topographic maps, and manual & computerized Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for wetland habitat assessment. These WETMAAP materials provide the chance to explore wetland issues through ten representative wetland sites in the US. WETMAAP case study sites, workshop materials, and data resources are available on the website. The site also provides teachers materials such as slide shows, lesson plans and tests.
	w	Digital Representations of Tree Species Range Maps The Earth Surface Dynamics section of the USGS provides this excellent collection of graphics, depicting range maps for more than 100 common North American tree species. From _Abies amabilis_ to _Yucca brevifolia_, these color maps may be viewed or downloaded (.pdf, .zip, tgz). Most of the ranges depicted here were digitized by Elbert L. Little, Jr. (USDA Forest Service) for vegetation-climate modeling studies; graphics are best viewed as downloaded files.
	w	Conservation and Environmental Maps Web Site Historic and recent maps show ‘changes in the landscape, including natural and man-made features, recreational and wilderness areas, geology, topography, wetland area, vegetation, and wildlife.’ The site may be searched by keyword or browsed by Subject Index, Creator Index, Geographic Location Index, or Title Index.
	w	National Water Information System (NWIS) Allows users to access several hundred million pieces of archival and real-time water data
	w	ABI and TNC Post Reptile and Amphibian Data Onto Website From Larry Master, Chief Zoologist, The Association for Biodiversity Information and The Nature Conservancy. "This summer we will be posting to our web site information on taxonomy, nomenclature, ecology, status, distribution, habitat, reproduction, phenology, food habits, etc. for ALL North American reptiles and amphibian species. These databases have been 15 years in the making and are finally being made public. Over time we will be adding pictures, Latin American and Caribbean data, etc. Currently, the site (under Information Resources) only has a listing of U.S. and Canadian species of amphibian and reptiles. The URL is http://www.abi.org/."
	w	Maptech's MAPSERVER Offers Free USGS Topo Maps and Nautical Charts Check Out the Largest Online Inventory for Land and Sea. (ENS) News March 29, 2000. GREENLAND, NH, March 29 -/E-Wire/-- Maptech introduces its MAPSERVER – a free and new way to view, print and email topographic maps and nautical charts online from its web site at http://www.maptech.com. The quality and the sheer number of images make the Maptech MAPSERVER the largest database of both NOAA digital charts and USGS topographic maps available in the world. Visit http://www.maptech.com
	w	A Super Source for Soils Info? SWCS Has It! NRCS This Week/Conference & Training Connection March 31, 2000. "Looking for a bounty of information on soil resources in one Web site? Look no further than http://www.swcs.org/t_resources.htm This special site, brought to you by the Soil and Water Conservation Society, features an outstanding array of information on soils. You'll be just a click or two away from interesting and useful facts and figures on the history of soil and water conservation, soil surveys, soil and its place in the environment, the state of the soil, plus a variety of resources for kids and teachers. Professional conservationists will love it, too!"

WEF Announces New Online Water Quality Library

Wednesday, August 23, 2000. ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- The Water Environment Federation (WEF) recently launched an online library from their Web site (www.wef.org) which enables users to search from hundreds of Federation documents published in 1999 and 2000, and to download selections in Adobe© format. The service is open to both WEF members and non-members and downloaded documents must be purchased. Fully searchable by author, title, key word, time frame, publication name, and document type, the WEF online library allows web users a quick and convenient method for finding water quality information. Currently, more than 750 items are available in the database. New material will be added in October, including papers delivered at WEFTEC 2000, the Federation's annual technical conference being held October 14-18, 2000 in Anaheim, California. For more information, contact: Barry Eisenberg 703-684-2400 beisenberg@wef.org or visit http://www.wef.org

eNature.com Launches First Nature and Wildlife Portal

(San Francisco, CA) – eNature.com launched the first comprehensive site for nature lovers, outdoor enthusiasts, and environmentalists. More than 4,000 species of North American animals and plants are covered in text and photographs on the site, which features a powerful search engine that enables users to easily identify species. The subjects covered in more than 10,000 web pages include birds, butterflies, mammals, fishes, reptiles, amphibians, insects, seashells, wildflowers, trees, and more, plus in-depth coverage of the natural habitats of the U.S. and Canada. Visit http://www.enature.com/press/press.asp?pressID=000301 for the complete press release.

New Ecosystem Valuation Website

From The Scout Report for Science & Engineering, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2000. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ . "Developed as a collaborative project of the USDA, NRCS, US Department of Commerce, NOAA-Sea Grant Office, and University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science, this new Website examines how economists attempt to assign values to ecosystem services. Topics are explained in terms that laypersons will understand (a glossary is also provided) but without compromising the quality of information. Anyone interested in learning more about this controversial but increasingly important area will find this site an excellent starting point." Visit http://www.ecosystemvaluation.org/default.htm

"WETKIT" Now Online

The North American Wetlands Conservation Council (Canada) and EnviroKit Solutions Inc. announce that WetKit -- "Tools for Working with Wetlands" -- is now on-line at www.wetkit.net. With WetKit up and running, Canadians can go to one place to access: maps and inventories to alert industry to wetland location and attributes; stewardship tools for agriculture, forestry and mining; tools to guide wetland consideration in environmental assessment; and much more …

Hydric Soils Interactive Now on Web

NRCS This Week, 5/19/00. Three hydric soil training modules produced by the University of Minnesota, Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, in cooperation with the Natural Resources Conservation Service Wetland Science Institute, are now available on the Web. This product can be a stand-alone educational module or as a pre-course assignment for the NRCS-NEDC Hydric Soils for Wetland Delineation training. Access it at http://www.soils.umn.edu/hsi_web/

Atlas of America’s Polluted Waters Published

EPA has recently published the Atlas of America's Polluted Waters, EPA 840-B-00-002, which include maps showing waters within each state that do not meet state water quality standards. States listed these waters in their most recent submission to EPA, generally, in 1998, as required by section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. This provision of the Clean Water Act requires a "total maximum daily load" or TMDL for each listed water. Over 20,000 waterbodies, including more than 300,000 miles of rivers and streams and more than 5 million lake acres across the country, are identified as not meeting water quality standards. A key feature of the 1998 lists of polluted waters is computer-based "geo-referencing" data that allow consistent mapping of these polluted waters. To better illustrate the extent and seriousness of water pollution problems around the country, EPA prepared this Atlas of state maps that identify the polluted waters in each state. The maps are color coded to indicate the type of pollutant causing the pollution problem. And, bar charts show the types of pollutants impairing stream/river/coastal miles, and lakes/estuary/wetland acres. Copies of the document are available at no charge from the National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP) in Cincinnati at: Phone: (513) 489-8190; Fax: (513) 489-8695. A copy of the Atlas has also been posted on the TMDL web site for browsing and downloading at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/atlas/index.html

Database of Online Documents Covering Water and Agriculture Now Available

The USDA Water Quality Information Center has launched Version 0.9 of the "Database of Online Documents Covering Water and Agriculture" It is a simple prototype database of electronic documents related to water and agriculture. This database locates more than five hundred electronic publications that are freely available on the Web. Many government agencies, such as the United States Geological Survey, Environmental Protection Agency, and various extension services produce water-related digital documents that are relevant to agriculture. However, these documents are often difficult to locate on the Web. By having bibliographic records for these documents organized in a single location the documents can be easily located even though they are scattered across many Web sites. Visit http://www.nal.usda.gov/wqic/wqdb/esearch.html

BLM And Forest Service Launch GeoCommunicator Web Site  

BLM Press Release, 10/25/01. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the USDA Forest Service (FS) have announced the deployment of the GeoCommunicator Web site, an interactive Web-based land information portal that provides a state-of-the-art solution for locating, accessing, and sharing the most current, up-to-date geographic information. The first module of the NILS (National Integrated Land System) project, the GeoCommunicator is located at www.geocommunicator.gov.

	w	Wetlands Interactive Mapper Online The USFWS National Wetlands Inventory launched the Wetlands Interactive Mapper, a web-based, browser-driven system that allows the general public to view digital wetlands data, conduct simple processing (e.g., zoom, pan, identify, etc.) and print a custom map on their desk top printer. Users must have a web browser. Netscape 4.x or Internet Explorer 4.01 work best. The goal of the mapper is to provide information to meet the public's needs concerning their local wetlands and deepwater habitats. It will help people identify potential opportunities and potential problems, set goals, and determine the actions necessary to maintain or improve the "livability" of their communities. The mapper can be found on the NWI web site at http://www.nwi.fws.gov or http://wetlands.fws.gov
	w	"BioBot Debuts: The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Development Team has unveiled BioBot at http://www.nbii.gov/about/pubs/factsheet/biobot.html, the first intelligent biological search engine on the Internet. BioBot will aid in the discovery, access, and delivery of information by providing a centralized location to search for much of the biological information currently found on the Internet. BioBot allows users to define specific topics of interest delivered to a personal Web page on a daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis. BioBot Search not only accesses all the biological information being indexed by commercial vendors such as Yahoo and Alta Vista, but also accesses the NBII-generated search of the Internet. Users will have a single place to go for finding biological information without wading through endless files of non-related information.

>>>>Topographic Maps From The U.S. Geological Survey Are Now Online.

ENN News News Bytes Wednesday, March 1, 2000. USGS Digital Raster Graphics are colored topographic maps that cover the conterminous United States and Hawaii. Visitors to the TerraServer site can download aerial photos and maps at no charge and can also link place names from the USGS Geographic Names Information System to an image. Topographic maps use contour lines to portray the shape and elevation of the land. They typically show natural features, including mountains, valleys, plains, lakes, rivers and vegetation, as well as constructed features such as roads, fences, boundaries, transmission lines and major buildings. The USGS currently has more than 57,000 topographic maps of the United States at popular scales (1:24,000, 1:100,000 and 1:250,000). Visit http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/.

Government Launches One-Stop Web Portal

[submitted by Bill Wilen, USFWS] The president launched the federal government's first one-stop portal to the World Wide Web on September 23. The new FirstGov.Gov portal, an Internet site designed to provide access to all Federal information by topic, as well as by agency, highlights the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) as the source for wetland maps. All agencies are required by the White House to link to the portal from their home pages. Citizens can use the portal at http://www.firstgov.gov , for activities as varied as tracking their Social Security benefits to viewing the wetlands in their community with the Wetlands Interactive Mapper. If the user searches for "wetland maps" the Wetlands Interactive Mapper hosted by the National Wetlands Inventory Center comes up first. Users can make reservations at a National Park, apply for a student loan, or review Medicaid coverage options. The President remarked, "This cutting-edge site gives the American people the "information Age" government they deserve."

New NatureServe Website Launched

NatureServe, a new "online encyclopedia of life" developed by the Association for Biodiversity Information (ABI), is now available to the public on the Internet at www.natureserve.org. NatureServe is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals, and ecological communities of the United States and Canada. NatureServe provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe is a product of the Association for Biodiversity Information in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

EPA’s Office of Water Schedules CALM State/EPA Meeting October 17-19

Many of the comments that EPA has received on the proposed TMDL regulation agree on the need for clear understanding of the data used to make decisions about whether waters are impaired. To meet this need, EPA will provide, in collaboration with States and other partners, a national Consolidated Assessment and Listing Methodology (CALM). The CALM will be built on, among other things, the work of the long-standing 305(b) consistency workgroup (which develops reporting guidelines for the states for use in preparing their 305(b) water quality assessments); findings of the Intergovernmental Task Force on Monitoring Water Quality; and guidance on the elements of an adequate state watershed monitoring and assessment program.

EPA OWOW Division of Assessment and Watershed Protection is sponsoring a meeting of EPA and state staff who work on water quality assessments (305(b) reports) and identification of impaired waters (303(d) lists under the current regulations). State agency staff working on wetlands/coastal and monitoring programs, including source water protection, nonpoint source management, etc, are urged to attend this meeting.

According to Jeanne Christie of the Association of State Wetland Managers, "CALM is an important water quality initiative that should be followed by wetland professionals interested in wetland water quality standards, 305(b) reporting, eventually determining how to identify ‘impaired’ wetlands and related topics." For more information about CALM or the upcoming meeting visit http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/calm.html

National Land Cover Dataset Now Available

10/6/00. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have teamed up to compile the first seamless National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) using satellite imagery for the conterminous United States. At 30-meter resolution, the NLCD is the most detailed land cover information ever compiled at a national level. The new CD-ROMs include data for the states east of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Data for the remaining states will be available within the next six months. The first eight CD's of a planned 31-volume disc set contains 21 categories of land cover information across the lower 48 states. These data are used in a variety of national and regional applications, including watershed management, environmental inventories, transportation modeling and land management. For complete details visit http://www.usgs.gov/public/press/public_affairs/press_releases/pr1299m.html.

In Lieu Fee Guidance Issued; Became Effective October 30, 2000

[from Scott Hausmann, WI DNR] 11/7/00.  The ACOE, EPA, USFWS, and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued final policy guidance regarding the use of in-lieu-fee arrangements for the purpose of providing compensation for adverse impacts to wetlands and other aquatic resources. Compensatory mitigation projects are designed to replace aquatic resource functions and values that are adversely impacted under the Clean Water Act Section 404 and Rivers and Harbors Act Section 10 regulatory programs. The advent of in-lieu-fee approaches to mitigation has highlighted the importance of several fundamental objectives that the agencies established for determining what constitutes appropriate compensatory mitigation. The purpose of the guidance is to clarify the manner in which in-lieu-fee mitigation may serve as an effective and useful approach to satisfy compensatory mitigation requirements and meet a goal of no overall net loss of wetlands. This in-lieu-fee guidance outlines the circumstances where in-lieu-fee mitigation may be used, consistent with existing regulations and policy.  The guidance was published in the 11/7/00 Federal Register at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&docid=00-28516-filed and can also be found at www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/regs/inlieufee.pdf 

Online Map Creation [Postscript, Adobe Illustrator]

[From The Scout Report for Science & Engineering, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2000. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ ] “Online Map Creation (OMC) is an amazing resource for geologists, geographers, or anyone needing to make a map figure for a research paper or conference talk. Here you can create Postscript-formatted maps of just about any locality by inputting geographical coordinates. OMC is a subset of GMT (Generic Mapping Tools) software developed by scientists at University of Hawaii and NOAA. Mercator, equidistant cylindrical, polar stereographic, lambert azimuthal equal-area, azimuthal equidistant, and orthographic projections can be made. Political boundaries, rivers, bathymetry, and topography can be displayed on maps along with tectonic features such as faults and ridges. Specific Ocean Drilling Project (ODP) and Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) sites can also be displayed. Once you enter your desired parameters, a full-color (or b/w if you want) map will be presented as a .gif image or for download in Postscript or Adobe Illustrator format. Neat! Step-by-step instructions are provided. [HCS]”   To use Online Map Creation visit http://www.aquarius.geomar.de/

Estuaries

New Website: Gulf of Mexico Integrated Science

7/25/01. A project to develop an integrated science strategy for assessing and monitoring Gulf of Mexico estuaries. For more information visit  http://gulfsci.usgs.gov/

National Estuary Program (http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/estuaries/nep.htm); National Estuarine Research Reserve System (http://www.ocrm.nos.noaa.gov/nerr/welcome.html); Estuary-Net (http://inlet.geol.sc.edu/estnet.html); Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research (http://ace.acadiau.ca/science/cer/home.htm); and the San Francisco Estuary Institute (http://www.sfei.org/)

Restoration

New Salt Marsh Restoration and Monitoring Guidelines Available

LGEAN Subscriber Update 7/24/01.  “New salt marsh restoration and monitoring guidelines are available on the Internet. Developed by the New York State Department of State and Department of Environmental Conservation, the guidelines offer technical assistance to local governments, environmental organizations and others interested in developing and monitoring salt marsh restoration projects.  For more information, click on the following URL: http://www.lgean.org/html/whatsnew.cfm?id=202 “

Climate Change

Report Available Online: “Climate Change Impacts on the United States”

The US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) Coordination Office is pleased to announce that the following report now is available on the Web in HTML format (the common format for Web postings):  Climate Change Impacts on the United States: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change. Overview. It is available at
http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/Library/nationalassessment/ The report, written for a general audience and profusely illustrated, originally was published as hardcopy (150 pages long) in late 2000.  The posting will greatly facilitate access to the report, and permits better integration with material posted elsewhere on the Web. For quick access to information on specific US regions, see the report's Regional Overview at http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/Library/nationalassessment/overviewregions.htm 

Global Warming Speeds Wetlands Carbon Leaching

8/23/01.  Global warming is accelerating carbon leakage from peat to the oceans. An analysis of UK rivers indicates that rising temperatures could leach billions of tons of carbon from peatlands worldwide, which may one day degrade to greenhouse gases itself.  For the Nature: Science Update complete article visit http://www.nature.com/nsu/010823/010823-13.html

"Confronting Climate Change in the Gulf Coast Region: Prospects for Sustaining Our Ecological Heritage," on October 23. University and government scientists who contributed to the study found that climate change in the Gulf Coast states (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) will likely lead to higher temperatures and an increase in the rate of sea level rise. These changes could increase the strain on freshwater sources, make coastal lands more vulnerable, and affect public health. The report also highlights potential impacts on ecosystems such as wetlands, grasslands, and coral reefs.  The authors suggest a three-pronged approach to meet the potential
challenges facing the Gulf Coast: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, minimizing human stresses on ecosystems, and adapting to the challenges to come. For the full report and more information, including five state-specific summaries and detailed information on sea level rise in the Gulf Coast region, please see http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/global_warming/index.cfm?pageID=27

New Report: Climate Change Threatens Wetlands

December 15, 2000. Oakland, California. In the report, "Water: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change," the National Water Assessment Group concludes that climate changes in this century may have serious implications for U.S. water resources. The study outlines changes associated with climate change that, among other impacts, seriously threaten critical habitats such as wetlands. Peter Gleick, President of the Pacific Institute, and the lead author of the study, stresses that "sole reliance on traditional management responses is a mistake - water managers need to integrate possible climate change impacts into their planning processes and to build flexibility into the system to maximize our ability to respond to changing conditions." The report is available at www.pacinst.org/naw.html.

List Serves

New Ramsar E-mail Discussion Group List Serve

This e-mail list-serve is dedicated to wetland and Ramsar-related communications, education, and public awareness techniques and activities. The List provides a mechanism for exchanging news, views, announcements, information and advice on related issues between any of the List's subscribers and all the others.  The List Serve is primarily for those interested in education and public awareness as a tool for the conservation and wise use of wetlands in general, and more specifically, for implementing Ramsar, the Convention on Wetlands.  To learn more about this visit http://ramsar.org/outreach_index.htm There are groups in English, French,
and Spanish.  

Takings Defense List Serves Available 

Glenn Sugameli a National Wildlife Federation attorney in Washington, DC has two focused, light traffic list serves for those defending against takings/property rights. One list serve provides information on court claims. The second list serve provides information on proposed legislation and policy arguments. Members can access or word search previous message on a website. Mr. Sugameli approves all members and messages for both list serves. The purpose of these list serves is to provide a focused useful forum for requests for assistance, targeted alerts, news, information and resources. The takings cases list serve has 150 federal, state, and local government members. Traffic averages 1-5 messages a week. To subscribe, send and e-mail to Glenn Sugameli at sugameli@nwf.org and identify whether your are interested in the takings cases list serve and/or the issues/policy list serve.

New Migration Discussion List
The Migration discussion list provides a forum for researchers, conservationists and members of the legal profession interested in the conservation of migratory species. The list is sponsored by the Zoological Research Institute and Museum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK) and the American Society of International Law - Wildlife Interest Group. Subscription instructions: Send an email message to: majordomo@listserv.uni-bonn.de Leave the subject line blank; In the body of the message, type: subscribe migration

The Water Forum – A New E-mail List Serve
The Water Forum is a free and open forum for discussion of water resources issues, including both groundwater and surface water, as well as drinking water, wastewater, and any other relevant water resources and or sanitation topics. The list is moderated by Ken Bannister, founder of Groundwater-Digest, currently the world's largest groundwater discussion forum. To join, send a blank e-mail to waterforum-subscribe@eGroups.com

New Coastal Conservation List Serve

Ecuador's Jatun Sacha Foundation is pleased to announce a new listserve for the discussion and exchange of information, issues, and events pertaining to coastal zone conservation. This list is open to everyone and discussion will concern global coastal conservation issues. To subscribe to the Coastal Conservation Listserve (Conserve Coast), send an email to coastalzone-subscribe@topica.com The list is managed by the Jatun Sacha Foundation's Coastal Conservation Program and the Coastal Trust.

Funding

Directory of Grassroots Funding Sources For New England/New York Available Online
Author: agilliam@rivernetwork.org Date: 1/27/2000 10:29 AM. The "Directory of Funding Sources for Grassroots River and Watershed Conservation Groups 2001-2002" is now available from River Network's website at http://www.rivernetwork.org/marketplace/category.cfm?Category=24. It includes profiles of foundations, corporations, state and federal agencies, and other nonprofits that support small, nonprofit watershed groups.

Catalog Of Federal Funding Sources For Watershed Protection Published

EPA recently published the Catalog of Federal Funding Sources for Watershed Protection (Second Edition), EPA 841-B-99-003. The Catalog provides information to watershed practitioners on Federal funding programs and contains one-page fact sheets for each of the 69 funding sources (grants and loans) that provide information on the type of projects funded and eligibility requirements. Contacts and Internet sites are also provided as are citations for other good publications and web sites regarding funding. This Second Edition updates EPA's Catalog of Federal Funding Sources for Watershed Protection, printed in 1997 (EPA 841-B-97-008). A copy of the Catalog has been posted on the Watershed Academy's web site for browsing and downloading at: http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/watershed/wacademy/fund.html

North American Lake Management Society


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