Vol. 25 No. 2 March/April 2015

Happy 40th Birthday to the National Wetlands Inventory!

By Marla J. Stelk, Policy Analyst, ASWM

Turning 40 isn’t easy. It’s that age we all remember as a child when our parents celebrated with those silly “over the hill” party favors. It has a deeply ingrained symbolism in our human consciousness of the beginning of the end of our personal lives as we know them. But as many of us have realized once we crossed that threshold, the number 40 is just another number. It really

doesn’t have anything to do with how we feel or what we are capable of. In fact, 40 is the new 30 now, right? And although it certainly does not mark an ending point for the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI), it does happen to fall on a time of transition for NWI.

This year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wetlands Inventory announced the completion of the digital wetland coverage for the conterminous 48 States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the major Northern Mariana Islands and 35% of Alaska. This digital wetlands data can viewed on the Wetlands Mapper and is available for download and via web map services. As Jeanne Christie, ASWM’s Executive Director, wrote in her Compleat Wetlander blog in March, NWI “is one of the largest databases of its kind in the world with over 20 million polygons of individual wetlands in the United States.” And it gets over one million website views per year – that’s equivalent to about 2700 website views per day. Now that’s a lot of traffic! The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (U.S. FWS) is also the principal Federal agency that supplies wetland data for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure.

In this Issue• Happy40th Birthday

to the National Wetlands Inventory!

• PrimaryFindingsfromASWM Wetland Restoration Work Group 2014-2015

• AssociationNews• Recentand UpcomingWebinars

• RecentASWMBlogs• NewMembers

Please renew your ASWM Membership YourASWMmembershiphasexpiredandthis will be your last issue of Wetland News. Torenewyourmembership,click here.Onceyourenew,youwillcontinuetoreceiveWetlandNews,Insider’sEditionandyouwillalsobeabletocontinueparticipatingintheMembers’WetlandWebinarSeries.Pleasenote:wehaveaddedanew$25senior/retireemembershipcategory.Ifyouhavequestionsaboutyourmembership status,pleasecontactLauraatlaura@aswm.org or (207) 892-3399.

Thankyouverymuch.

March/April 2015 2

Although completing the task of digitizing wetland maps for the United States is truly a significant accomplishment, the job is not even close to being done. Many of the maps that were digitized were legacy maps from the 1970s and 1980s and others were produced by scaling maps for areas without maps. Much has changed on our landscape since the 70s and 80s. Tom Dahl’s national Status and Trends reports show that we have continued to lose a significant amount of wetlands across the U.S. – primarily along our coastlines. Development and agriculture continue to put pressure on wetland resources. Many wetlands have also been restored through programs such as the Wetlands Reserve and the North America Waterfowl Management Plan and through other voluntary and compensatory mitigation efforts. These older maps do not reflect these changes.

The U.S. FWS, however, has decided to move away from their vision of building the wetlands layer to maintaining and updating it as a Federal Geospatial Data Layer. They have reduced staff and funding for the NWI and are now going to rely on other stakeholders such as Federal, State, Tribal, and territorial agencies to assume wetland mapping responsibilities and to produce any new and updated data for their areas of interest. The NWI will provide the Quality Assurance and Quality Control of the wetland maps developed by these other stakeholders through their National Standards and Support Team who will add the data provided to the wetlands data layer. Of course, this places the burden of the cost and expertise needed to produce this new digital data primarily on the shoulders of State geospatial database departments. The ability to absorb this new responsibility will naturally vary from state to state depending on their financial and human resource capacity. Of course good land use and resource management decisions can only be made with good up-to-date data. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out over the next few years.

The Association of State Wetland Managers (ASWM) and the U.S. FWS celebrated the 40th anniversary of the NWI at ASWM’s annual State/Tribal/Federal Coordination Meeting at the National Conservation Training Center near Shepherdstown, W.V. in March. Last year we were sad to see JoAnn Mills, former program analyst for NWI, retire but we celebrated her retirement with her by presenting her with the Ruby Slippers Award. This year, we had to say goodbye to the three amigos/grandfathers of wetland mapping – Bill Wilen, Ralph Tiner, and Tom Dahl - as they announced their retirements as well. Tom retired last year, Ralph will retire at the end of April and Bill has announced he plans to retire at the end

of 2015. Jeanne Christie gave them a bang-up retirement celebration as only she could do and the U.S. FWS sponsored a lovely reception for them afterward. Jeanne’s nephew called in remotely and sang “My Way” and “New York, New York” with wetland lyrics composed by Jeanne herself. Mitch Bergeson from NWI presented them with antiquities he found in the NWI closets that they simply couldn’t live without such as NWI pens, blue line maps, wrist pads for delineating wetlands, and framed aerial photography. And Bill Kirshner, U.S. FWS, presented them with lifetime achievement plaques. It was quite the event!

These guys make turning 40 look like a piece of cake!

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So for those of you who unfortunately missed it, here are Jeanne’s lyrics for “My Way” and “New York, New York” – enjoy!

Start spreading the newsIt’s online to stayYou’ll want to be a part of itNWI

These polygon bluesWon’t stop us no wayWe’ve plotted every part of itNWI

We need to make sure all those wetlandsAre going to keepThe correct Cowardin classSeen from afarUsing LidarNAPP and Radar…

Those obligate plantsAnd facultative ones tooThey are the very heart of itNWI

And now retirement’s nearAnd soon I’ll be a brand new personMy friends I’ll make it clearI’ve mapped my last wetland conversion

I’ve outlined every pondAnd done the whole migratory flywayAnd more, much more than thisI mapped it my way

Regrets I’ve had a few But not when my boss might gently mention I’d ignored what I was assigned to doGave No Net Loss my full attention

I found a way to add HGMDescriptors to the displayAnd more, much more than thisI mapped them my way

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knewWhen I bit off more than I could chewBut through it all when there was doubtI’d just sit down and map it outI faced it all, you’ll all recall, I did it my way

I planned each status and trendNoted every loss without exception Until those that occurredBecame too small to even mentionI moved onto a regional studyThat showed coastal wetlands were continuing to go awayAnd more, much more than thisI mapped it my way

For what is a man what has he gotIf not himself then he has notTo do the things he truly feelsWill help the world and wetlands healThe record shows, I took the blowsAnd made it our way – Yes now it’s your way

With millions of viewsAnd growing each dayFolks are using every part of itNWI

We’ve included palustrine, freshwater marshes and some seepsAnd though national coverage is doneWe’ve just begunIt’ll cost us a tonCause maps must be redoneIn the long run

Those wetland loss bluesThey’re going awayWe’ll make a brand new start of itNWI

We’ve got no time to spareWe’ve got to make folks careIt’s up to you NWI

The NWI Way (to the tune of ‘My Way’)

NWI (to the tune of ‘New York, New York’)

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Numerous studies have documented shortcomings of wetland mitigation and voluntary restoration projects and inability to achieve stated goals. In 2014, the Association of State Wetland Managers organized a Work Group of wetland restoration experts to identify the underlying causes and identify actions to improve outcomes. During 2014 and 2015, a series of webinars on wetland restoration was organized to further explore wetland restoration practices for selected wetland types. Workgroup members and presenters were asked to identify the top 5 constraints on wetland restoration and identify potential remedies. These primary findings are explained and explored in our draft white paper. This project is supported by U.S. EPA Wetlands Division Grant 83541601 and the McKnight Foundation.

OverallBarrierstoMeetingPerformanceCriteria

1) Knowledge base is not available to practitioners due to prohibitive costs to access academic journals, insufficient time to

review the literature, a lack of undergraduate and graduate studies on wetland restoration science, a lack of good training opportunities for practicing professionals, absence of websites, webportals, etc. that provide comprehensive information about how to restore wetlands for specific wetland types, and professional silos.

2) Inappropriate performance criteria are utilized due to vague project goals, inadequate compilation of baseline information, inadequate water quality investigation and inadequate consideration of soils. Existing program regulations and guidelines generally restrict monitoring times to assess wetland restoration success to 3-5 years.

3) Tracking wetland restoration progress is hindered by subjective terminology because the word “success” is often used subjectively to describe wetland restoration projects and can be interpreted differently depending on the criteria that different agencies or professionals may use to define “success.”

4) Changing landscapes create challenges and restoration projects that do not account for predictable and/or potentially risky changes in the surrounding landscape are at risk. Lack of consideration of the historical, current and projected future context of the proposed restoration site (and greater watershed) constrains restoration.

PrimaryFindingsfromASWMWetlandRestoration Work Group 2014-2015

By Marla J. Stelk, Policy Analyst, ASWM

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5) Climate change is creating many challenges for wetland restoration efforts. Wetlands are at risk of being lost and altered due to climate, but they are also an effective tool to both mitigate and adapt to climate change.

6) Accountability for performance outcomes is lacking. There is a need for improved permitting standards, requirements, and enforcement of those standards to improve wetland restoration outcomes.

Pre-restorationChallenges

1) Site Selection: Too often, restoration projects treat the project site as an island without considering the broader landscape and the dynamic interactions of land use, hydrology, flora and fauna across the landscape. Wetlands are a component of watersheds and different positions in the watershed support different wetland types.

2) Hydrology: It is important to plan hydro-periods that are appropriate for each site. The assessment of water quality is important.

3) Soils: Failure to fully assess and plan for soils (avoiding compaction, identifying the need for soil amendments, detecting deep impervious or pervious layers) can also lead to poor restoration outcomes.

RestorationConstructionChallenges

1) Failure to adequately implement design: Onsite restoration and construction staff who do not follow the approved design risk missing

the goals. Someone who understands the restoration project plan thoroughly needs to be on call throughout the construction phase.

2) Lack of an adaptive management framework: Without some form of adaptive management, any unexpected discoveries (different soils, drainage structures, etc.) cannot be effectively addressed. “Surprises” should always be expected.

Post-restorationChallenges

1) Poor record keeping & monitoring: This can make it impossible to track changing conditions on the site or to relate what is happening onsite to performance of a nearby reference site or other similar restoration projects and creates barriers to knowledge transfer.

2) Monitoring period too short: A wetland needs more time to develop than 3-5 years, the typical time for mitigation monitoring. The requirement to achieve a “climax” wetland in an abbreviated time period may hinder restoration efforts.

March/April 2015 6

3) Monitoring data exist but are not used: The lack of a regional depository for monitoring data and reports prevents many practitioners from learning how to improve their own wetland restoration efforts. The practice of wetland restoration is hampered by insufficient documentation on who is doing the restoration, what types and for what purposes restorations are being performed, where the projects are located and to what degree performance standards are being met.

Next steps will be to complete the review of this document and then move on to developing an action plan to address the issues identified. We want to ensure we have accurately reflected the challenges and so ASWM is extending an invitation to our members to review the draft white paper for this project. The draft can be viewed and downloaded by clicking here. If you would like to

receive a copy of the draft white paper in Word format for the purposes of providing comments and edits, please contact Marla Stelk at marla@aswm.org and she will forward one to you. Please provide any edits and comments by Monday, May 11th.

As we move forward from this project and transition into our new project on Raising the Bar on Wetland Restoration Success (supported by U.S. EPA Wetlands Division Grant 83578301) we will focus our attention on implementation. If you are involved in implementing wetland restoration projects, policy or regulation, and you are interested in participating in our ASWM Wetland Restoration Work Group with the goal of assisting with implementation of recommended actions to improve wetland restoration outcomes, please contact Jeanne Christie at jeanne.christie@aswm.org.

AssociationNews By Jeanne Christie, Executive Director, ASWM

Somehow, I don’t know how, people around the country find the Association of State Wetland Mangers phone number when they have a question about wetlands. Some of them are easy to anticipate. Others are not. Sometimes people are worried about a project that will destroy wetlands close by. More than once, a person has called wanting to sell a piece of property and has been told by a real estate agent it was not sellable because it included wetlands. Another time, a caller was worried because the road to a wetland restoration project (and his house) had been made impassible by the damage done by heavy equipment using the road for access to the wetland project. Recently someone called and said they were thinking of buying 40 acres of mostly wetland and asked what they could do with it. I immediately launched into a discussion of permitting requirements. When I finally stopped and asked if I answered his question, he responded that he just wanted to know if he would be able to walk on it to go hunting and fishing after he purchased it. I explained that he could certainly walk on his property to hunt and fish. I added

that the extent of regulation of wetlands has been exaggerated by some groups. He understood.

I was very happy to get a call from someone who valued wetlands so much. I was distressed that he had the impression that he wouldn’t be able to walk on a piece of property he purchased. I was doubly distressed that he so easily accepted that he couldn’t trust information available to him about wetland regulations.

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AmericanWetlandsMonth

It’s nearly May and that means it’s nearly American Wetlands Month. At ASWM we’ll be posting something interesting about wetlands every day on our ASWM group facebook page. At the end of the month on Wednesday, May 27 we’ll be holding our monthly member’s webinar jointly with the U.S. National Ramsar Committee, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, our wetland colleagues in Canada and others in celebration of this year’s international Conference of Parties on Wetlands of International Importance. We hope you will join us! Click here to register.

CleanWaterRule:Definitionof“WatersoftheUnited States”

Both the Administration and Congress are engaged in addressing the Clean Water Rule that is currently under Interagency Federal Review with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The comment period on the proposed ruled closed November 14, 2014. Following review of comments and revisions to the rule, a final rule was sent to OMB on April 3rd. According to the EPA website, the final rule will be published sometime in May of 2015. This is a very ambitious timeline that will be challenging to meet, but it signals the Administration is moving ahead with finalizing the rule and it is likely if it is not finalized in May, it will be published and put into effect in the coming months.

At the same time, Congress has held a series of hearings in both the House and Senate on the Clean Water Rule (see below). H.R. 1732, the “Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015” was introduced in the House on April 13 and may be brought to the House floor this week (last week in April). The legislation would withdraw the existing rule and require the Administration to start the rulemaking process over. The primary

reason reported for doing this is so the states and to a lesser degree other parties can engage in full consultation with the EPA and the Corps in the rulemaking process.

In addition the House is moving ahead with the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill which includes a rider that would prohibit the Corps from implementing the new rule. This rider, should it remain in the appropriations budget, would take affect when funding is authorized for the next fiscal year.

In the Senate the “Defense of Environment and Property Act” has been introduced. The bill would dramatically reduce the protections provided under the CWA. (see blog) Senators are also in the process of introducing legislation similar to H.R. 1732. (see article) The “Federal Water Quality Protection Act” would also require the Administration to start over adhering to a set of new definitions and principles that appears to substantially reduce the extent of waters currently subject to the Clean Water Act.

What’sNext?

What happens next depends in part on whether the Administration publishes a final rule in the next couple months. If it does, the reception by states, the regulated community, and many other interest groups, etc. as well as the reception of

March/April 2015 8

the Bills introduced into Congress will influence what steps Congress continues to pursue. For those who would like Congress to be informed and understand their concerns and recommendations, it is important to be actively engaged both now and when the rule is published. In some states members of Congress are reaching out to their state environmental agencies for their perspective.

See the links below for information about the record established through the House and Senate Hearings.

House-Senate Joint Hearing on State & Local Impacts of Administration’s Proposed Expansion of Waters Regulation, Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Senate Environmental and Public Works - Impacts of the Proposed Waters of the United States Rule on State and Local Governments and Stakeholders Saturday, March 14, 2015

House Committee on Agriculture Conservation & Forestry Subcommittee—Public Hearing: WOTUS, March 17, 2015

Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Waters of the United States: Stakeholder Perspectives on the Impacts of EPA’s Proposed Rule, Tuesday, March 24, 2015

04/06/2015 Field Hearing: Impacts of the Proposed Waters of the United States Rule on State and Local Governments and Stakeholders

04/08/2015 Field Hearing: Impacts of the Proposed Waters of the United States Rule on State and Local Governments and Stakeholders

FederalRegisterNoticeonAssumptionFACASolicitsNominations

404 Assumption Federal Advisory Committee EPA published a Federal Register (F.R.) notice (available here) requesting nominations to a National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT) Subcommittee that will be tasked with providing advice and recommendations on how the EPA can best clarify assumable waters for dredge and fill permit programs pursuant to CWA section 404(g)(1). EPA is establishing this advisory committee in part in response to a 2014 request from the Environmental Council of States (ECOS), The Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA) and ASWM requesting the Agency address areas of the 404 Assumption process that need greater clarification. Improving clarity and predictability will assist those states interested in pursuing assumption of the 404 program.

The F.R. notice solicits nominations to fill up to 25 vacancies to serve on the NACEPT Subcommittee through spring of 2016. It is anticipated that several states and tribes will be represented on the Subcommittee. These can include representatives of wetland and water programs as well as Departments of Natural Resources, Departments of Transportation, etc. Other parties with an interest and experience in Section 404 Assumption are also sought. The deadline for nominations is 5/15. Please see the F.R. notice for more details. In addition ASWM Policy Analyst Peg Bostwick has written a blog to provide additional information about the process which is available here.

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WebsiteRevisionsUnderway

Over the past year we’ve been doing a lot of behind the scene work on the ASWM website. We’ve migrated to the latest version of the Joomla software that supports the site. Then we redid the template for the web pages because our existing template was no longer supported. That was the boring stuff. Now we will be revising the website to make it easier for you and other users to find information. Over the past few years our website has become bloated with too many stories and too many links. This spring and summer we’ll

be putting the ASWM website on a digital diet and there will be some major housecleaning. There will be glitches. Please let us know if you encounter any problems so we can address them right away. To begin there will be some changes in the Wetland Programs and Wetland Science areas of the site.

RecentPostsfromASWM’sBlog

TheCompleatWetlander - By Jeanne Christie

• Venice,ResilienceandPonderingWhat’sNextforCoastalCommunities

• National Wetlands Inventory Turns 40

• TheMeaningofSnow

ForPeat’sSake- By Marla Stelk

• RebuildorRelocate–A“Wicked”ProblemforNaturalDisasterRiskManagement

• ACommunicationChallenge:InformationOverload

• BehindtheScenesofWetlandRestoration:CriticalRolesforLandscapeArchitects

The Wetland Wanderer - By Brenda Zollitsch

• ThinkingGloballyandActingLocallytoPreserveWetlandsofInternationalSignificance:LearningaboutbecomingaUSRamsarWetland Site

• ExploringtheMindCandyfromthe2015ASWMState/Tribal/FederalCoordination Workshop

• ReducingStormwaterPollutionandIt’sImpactsbyIncreasingImperviousness:HowWetland-relatedPlanningandManagementCanPlayaRole

Salameander - By Peg Bostwick

• EPAActiontoClarifyState-AssumableWatersunder§404

• StrugglingforBalance:WithdrawaloftheInterpretiveRuleRegardingExemptAgriculturalActivities

• TheTrueArtofClimateChangeAdaptation

March/April 2015 10

Members’Wetland WebinarSeries

AmericanWetlandsMonthNationalWebinar:TheRamsarTreaty/ConventiononWetlandsWednesday, May 27, 2015 – 2:00 pm ETPresenterswill include representatives from the U.S. State Department, US National Ramsar Committee, Ramsar Panels, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust UK, and both US and Canadian Ramsar Site Managers. The webinar will be co-hosted by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Association of State Wetland Managers. Formoreinformationandtoregister,click here.

ImprovingWetlandRestorationSuccessProject

PrairiePotholeRestoration

Tuesday, May 19, 2015 3:00 pm ETPresenters:Sue Galatowitsch, University of Minnesota and Carter Johnson, South Dakota State University

Formoreinformationandtoregister,click here.

Riverine/Riparian Wetland RestorationTuesday, June 9, 2015 – 3:00 pm ET

Presenter:Richard Weber, NRCS Wetland Team, CNTSC and Larry Urban, Montana Department of Transportation

Formoreinformationandtoregister,click here.

Ifyouhaven’tattendedanASWMwebinarorusedGoToWebinarbeforeoryoujust

needarefresher,pleaseviewour Help Guide priortothewebinar here.

NaturalFloodplainFunctionsAlliance(NFFA)

SquarePeg,RoundHole–MaximizingConservationinaFlood-InsuranceConstructTuesday, May 5, 2015 – 3:00 pm ETPresenter:Bonnie Shorin, NOAAFormoreinformationandtoregister,click here.

ManagingWaterWhereItFalls:GreenInfrastructureinMilwaukee,WisconsinTuesday, July 21, 2015 – 3:00 pm ETPresenter:Kevin L. Shafer, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD), Executive Director

Formoreinformationandtoregister,click here.

WetlandMapping Consortium(WMC)

Minnesota’s“RestorableWetlandPrioritizationTool”Wednesday, May 20, 2015 – 3:00 pm ETPresenter:Mark Gernes, Minnesota Pollution Control AgencyFormoreinformationandtoregister,click here.

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ImprovingWetlandRestorationSuccessProjectWebinarsVernalPoolRestoration–HowtoRestoretheLandscape–Mick Micacchion, Midwest Biodiversity InstituteRecordingswillbeavailablesoon.

PacificCoastWetlandRestoration –Charles (“Si”) Simenstad, University of Washington and John Callaway, University of San FranciscoViewrecordingshere:Part1 Part2 Part3 Part4 Part5 Part6

PlayaandRainwaterBasinRestoration–Rich Weber, NRCS Wetland Team, CNTSC and Ted LaGrange, Nebraska Game & Parks CommissionViewrecordingshere:Part1 Part2 Part3 Part4 Part5 Part6

Recently Recorded ASWM WebinarsThe Association of State Wetland Managers hosts and records 3-5 webinars

each month. Below are some recent presentations. For more information on future and past webinars, click here.

Members’WetlandWebinarsSeriesMonitoringResultsfromtheBigSpringRunAquaticEcosystemRestorationProjectandProspectsforAddressingWatershedImpairmentsRelatedtoLegacySediment–Jeff Hartranft, Pennsylvania

Department of Environmental Protection

ViewRecordingHere.(loginrequired)

NaturalFloodplainFunctionAlliance WebinarsSeries

EPAAdaptationWorkbook:LessonsLearnedinSanJuanBay,PuertoRico–Michael Craghan, Climate Ready Estuaries Program, U.S. EPA

Viewrecordingshere: Part1 Part2 Part3 Part4

WetlandMappingConsortiumWebinarsSeries

Marsh Analysis andPlanningToolIncorporatingTidesandElevations(MAPTITE):AGeospatialToolfor

EstuaryRestoration–Lijuan Huang and Chris Paternostro, NOAA

Viewrecordingshere:Part1 Part2 Part3 Part4

March/April 2015 12

ASWMStaffJeanne Christie, Executive Director

Jon Kusler, Esq. PhD., Founder

Peg Bostwick, Senior Policy Analyst

Brenda Zollitsch, PhD., Policy Analyst

Marla Stelk, Policy Analyst

Dawn Smith, Communication Specialist

Steve Palmer, Bookkeeper

Sharon Weaver, Webmaster

Laura Burchill, Program Assistant

CopyrightAssociationofStateWetlandManagers,March/April2015

Chad Ashworth, WV Department of Natural ResourcesSarah Atherton, Kentucky Division of WaterBeth Aubuchon, MO Department of Natural ResourcesAudrey Beres, MO Department of ConservationKaryn Boldys, MI Department of Environmental QualityKeith Bowlin, Kentucky Division of WaterElizabeth Byers, WV Department of Natural ResourcesRaymond Cummings, Jr., ARCADISMichelle DeLong, MI Dept. of Environmental QualityCaitlin DixGreg Goforth Brittany Haywood, DE Department of Natural Resources and EnvironmentMichelle Hohn, MI Department of Environmental QualitySusan Jones, MI Department of Environmental QualityJon Kenning, MT Department of Environmental QualityAudrie Kirk, MI Department of Environmental QualityCorey Lucas Heather Mason, FL Department of Environmental ProtectionMindy McCarthy, MT Department of Environmental QualityMiles McCoy-Sulentic, Northern Arizona UniversityGary Moody

Renata Moreno Quintero Tom Nedland, WI Department of Natural ResourcesJeffrey Pierce, MI Department of Environmental QualityMichasel Pipp, MT Department of Environmental QualityRic Queen Rick Rachal, FL Department of Environmental ProtectionKim Rush, FL Department of Environmental ProtectionMike Savage, FL Department of Environmental ProtectionPamela Schense, WI Department of Natural ResourcesRobyn Schmidt, MI Department of Environmental QualityLeland SearlesTeresa Sherwood, MI Department of Environmental QualityCathy Sleight, MI Department of Environmental QualityKenny Smith, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and EnvironmentGary Starzinski, Star Environmental, Inc.Justin Stroman, AR Game & Fish CommissionAngela Sturdevant, The Nature ConservancyAaron Van Ostran Amanda Whitscell, MI Department of Environmental QualityG. Alan Wood, The Earthworks Group

Welcome New Members

All wetland photos by Jeanne Christie

BoardofDirectorsCollis Adams, Chair

Ken Murin, Vice Chair

Mark Biddle, Secretary/Treasurer

Debra Baker

Denise Clearwater

Andrew May

Doug Norris

Bill Ryan