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Don't Forget About Lake Erie (IJC Public Meeting in Toledo)

From Kristy Meyer at the Ohio Environmental Council

I wanted to make sure that you were all aware about a public meeting that the International Joint Commission will be holding on March 25^th at 7:00 pm at the University of Toledo, Lake Erie Center.  They will be talking about the Upper Great Lakes Water Levels.  Apparently, the study was undertaken because of concern about falling lake levels in the upper Great Lakes.  There are some folks that are pushing hard to further control the amount of water that Lake Erie and Lake Ontario receive.  It seemed to me that we should all be very interested in this study, particularly because they are talking about holding back water, which would impact Lake Erie and the amount of water within our Great Lake for wildlife, drinking water, manufacturing, agriculture, recreational opportunities, etc.  Below is a link to a press release about these hearings. 

Here is why you should attend:

The report Impacts on Upper Great Lakes Water Levels: St. Clair River concludes the first phase of a study of the upper Great Lakes. It examines the physical changes in the St. Clair River since 1962 and recommends that measures to remediate the increased conveyance, or water carrying capacity, of the river not be undertaken at this time. It also recommends that mitigation measures in the St. Clair River be examined as part of the comprehensive assessment of the future effects of climate change in the second phase of the study.
The IJC will consider the views of the public on the recommendations of its Study Board before it reports to the governments of Canada and the United States on matters related to the St. Clair River and their impacts on upper Great Lakes water levels.

FOWL Takes a Giant Step Forward

At the meeting last Sunday the Steering Committee in charge of 're-booting' the organization made decisive progress on a number of fronts. A New FOWL Board of Directors and Officers were chosen.

• Ray Stewart - President
• Shirley Tomosillo - Secretary
• Marge Diamond - Treasurer
• John Pais
• Mike Wagner
• Daryl Davis
• Helen Kopp
• Kathleen Bradley

This is an excellent core of Wetland Stewards with a long history of contributing to FOWL. Among these board members we have a great pool of diverse talents. Their enthusiasm is delightfully strong. They are digging right in to do the work of the organization. Follow up on membership and tabling will continue on March 7th at the Presidential Offices (Rays' house) at 2pm.
There is still plenty of room for more members to step up and pitch in. We have immediate need for graphics/visual arts talents as we prepare materials for the Earthfest 2010 tabling at the Zoo and other locations. Let me know if you can help.
Membership
Based on the poll results from 31 respondents to the simple survey, membership contributions have been adjusted. Basic membership level is now $20 with a student/senior level of $10. The 'Lifetime' membership is discontinued. All those who have contributed at the lifetime level will continue to enjoy that status. With our new membership committee headed by Mike Wagner, we will be taking steps to assure timely updates of membership status and develop a routine process for keeping annual memberships coming in.

Non-profit status
The federal 501(c)3 application process will soon be streamlined with an online application. The cost will be greatly reduced. When this is rolled out in 2010, we will be moving forward with the non-profit application.
By-laws
A standard set of by-laws were introduced for the boards consideration. Several modifications were recommended. These will be the subject of upcoming board meetings with the goal of adopting them before the June 19th picnic/annual meeting/fundraiser.

Mascot
In other swift and decisive action, based on the results of our Simple Survey, FOWL has adopted the Spotted Salamander as its mascot.

Congratulations Ambystoma maculatum.
 

Friends of Wetlands New Mission Statement

Although we haven't officially adopted it yet, this is the current version based upon board input. 

Friends of Wetlands will encourage the highest quality of habitat protection for wetlands by

•          providing education on the functions and values of wetlands;
•         training citizen scientists to report data on local wetlands; and
•         promoting strongly protective public policy.

Further comments are welcome.

Funding for Louisiana coastal restoration in Obama's budget

By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune

February 03, 2010, 6:29AM

Louisiana's fight to save its shrinking coastline will get vital help in the Obama administration's proposed 2011 budget, which includes $35.6 million for larger coastal restoration projects.
It's the first time that the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration program has received federal construction funding, a significant milestone for the state.
"The fact that coastal restoration in Louisiana is one of the only new construction projects requested by the president ... is a clear message that the tide is turning,'' said Garret Graves, adviser to Gov. Bobby Jindal. "For over 80 years, our state has lost over 2,300 square miles of coastal land; finally the federal government can join us in implementing solutions.''
That's critically important given the short window of time -- less than a decade -- that experts say remains for restoring the coast.
Projects that have been designed and are ready to build will get $19 million of the money, with the biggest share going to build wetlands with sediment removed from the Mississippi River during routine dredging. That's a smart approach that makes use of a resource that's now being wasted.

Great Lakes News

U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson, in collaboration with 15 other federal agencies, have made restoring the Great Lakes a national priority.
Signaling a commitment beyond measure of past promises, in February 2009, President Obama proposed $475 million for a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. This Action Plan describes how the Initiative will be executed from 2010 through 2014.

Notably;

Habitat and Wildlife Protection and Restoration, including bringing wetlands and other habitat back to life, and the first-ever comprehensive assessment of the entire 530,000 acres of Great Lakes coastal wetlands for the purpose of strategically targeting restoration and protection efforts in a science-based manner (pages 33-35)

This could be a great time to be a wetland advocacy group!