Please take a moment to help protect wetlands!

["Richard Spotts" <spotts@ncis.net>]

Dear Conservationists:

If you have not already done so, please read the forwarded message below
from the Clean Water Network on how you can quickly and easily help protect
wetlands.

Our thanks to Jan Conley for forwarding this information.  In a separate
E-mail, we will provide a copy of our edited and expanded letter to the
Corps built off of this format.

Please help!

Many thanks for your consideration.

Richard Spotts, Director
Green Onion Resource Center
gorc@ncis.net


------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date:          Wed, 25 Aug 1999 17:01:28 -0400
From:          Kathy Nemsick <cleanwaternt@igc.org>
Organization:  Clean Water Network
Reply-to:      cleanwaternt@igc.org
Subject:       An easy way to comment to help protect wetlands
To:            cleanwater-info@igc.org

!!!!Help Protect Wetlands!!!

A Chain Letter With a Purpose -- brought to you by the Clean Water
Network.

You can help protect the environment without leaving your desk!

Send a message (example given below) today to the Army Corps of
Engineers -- Then forward this message to at least five friends and ask
them to help out.   Thousands of comments are needed by Tuesday,
September 7 in order to fight off  the efforts of developers and other
special interests to weaken protection for our nation's valuable
wetlands and streams.

If you send this letter to five friends and comments to the Corps of
Engineers within 24 hours your house will never flood, your drinking
water will always be clean, and birds will fly from miles around to
patronize your birdfeeder (OK, so this isn't a real chain letter and we
can't promise all this, but you will be doing your part to help out!)

Background:
The Corps is currently soliciting comments on new nationwide permits
(NWPs) for wetland and stream destruction.  These "rubber-stamp" permits
allow developers, farmers, and industries to destroy wetlands and
streams with almost no environmental review and no opportunity for
public comment.  Since about 80% of all destruction activities in
wetlands and streams are handled this way, it is important to let the
Corps know that they must comply with the Clean Water Act and only allow
these permits to be used for projects that will result in no more than
minimal impact to wetlands on an individual or cumulative scale.

The Corps' latest proposal for Nationwide Permits was published in the
Federal Register on July 21, 1999. While the current proposal represents
a step forward from earlier iterations, it is riddled with loopholes
that will undermine protection for our nation's wetlands and streams.

Your help is needed to make sure that the good components of the
proposal remain and that the loopholes that leave valuable wetlands
vulnerable are closed before the proposal is finalized.

Take Just a Few Minutes to Help Out
Review the message below, add/or write a few statements of your own and
email it to the Corps today.  Then pass this message on to at least five
friends. More information on the Corps' proposal is given at the end of
this message.

Remember, Comments are due by Tuesday, September 7, 1999.  ACT NOW!

This message was drafted after a thorough review of the Corps proposal
and consideration of the Clinton Administration's stated commitment to
wetlands protection. Please keep in mind that some Corps staff recognize
the inadequacies of the regulatory system and are doing their best to
protect wetlands within the political constraints they face. Keep your
message civil and focused on the proposal at hand.

For more information, go to www.cwn.org and click on the wetlands bar on
the lower left menu.

------------------------------------------------------
ADDRESS
YOUR EMAIL MESSAGE TO:

cecwor@hq02.usace.army.mil


     Dear Sir or Madam:           August, 1999

     I would like to comment on the Proposal to Issue and Modify
Nationwide Permits published in the Federal Register on July 21, 1999.

     Although the proposal represents some important steps forward, it
is contains loopholes that will accelerate losses of our nation's
valuable wetlands, cause more than minimal impact, and undermine the
Administration's goal of achieving a net gain of wetlands.

     My specific comments are as follows:
+ It is not okay to allow trees to be planted in uplands as a way to
compensate for wetlands destruction.  Planting trees along streams is
one way to mitigate water quality damage caused by wetlands destruction,
but it doesn't address the loss of flood storage capacity or habitat
that a restored wetland would provide. For all wetlands larger than 1/4
acre that are destroyed, the Corps should require that wetlands be
restored on at least a one to one ratio.

     + Proposed Nationwide Permit 40 is an invitation to destroy
agricultural wetlands.  It should be rewritten to recognize the Corps'
responsibility under the Clean Water Act to determine whether a project
will have more than minimal impacts and to approve mitigation for any
project.  The Corps should limit this permit to activities that would
destroy less than 1/4 acre of wetlands, and not allow it to be used at
all in prairie potholes, playa lakes or vernal pools.

     +   I support ban on nationwide permits in the 100-year floodplain.
The Corps should expand this restriction to include drainage activities
as well as fills to better protect flood storage areas.

     +   I support the new "indexing" approach to NWP 39 for
residential, commercial, and institutional development as this will
justifiably limit the amount of wetlands destruction allowed without
environmental review based on the size of the parcel in question.


     Sincerely,


     (sign here with your name and address)
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This message was sent by the Clean Water Network.  If you would
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aware that we receive over 40 messages a day and so may take some
time to get back with you.  If you need to contact us immediately,
please feel free to phone:
Kathy Nemsick           I       Ami Grace
National Coordinator    I       Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator
202-289-2395            I       202-289-2421
**********************************************************************