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More than three months after congressional hearings,
the Clean Water Restoration Act (the Federal bill to restore Clean Water
Act protections for isolated wetlands and headwater streams) has stalled in
committee. Read on for:
- Actions WWA members and
friends in Wisconsin's 6th Congressional District (including Adams,
Calumet, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Manitowoc, Marquette, Sheboygan,
Waushara and Winnebago counties) can take NEXT WEEK to
advance the Clean Water Restoration Act (see sidebar).
- Updates on efforts in Washington D.C.,
and Wisconsin
to build support for this important wetland protection legislation.
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Proposed
Amendments Address Opponents' Concerns but Maintain Protections
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 Opponents to the
CWRA cite concerns that the CWRA will hurt farmers, regulate mud puddles
and bird baths, and substantially expand the scope of the Clean Water Act
beyond historic protections. A coalition of organizations in Washington
D.C., (including Ducks Unlimited, Izaak Walton
League of America, National Wildlife Federation, Theodore Roosevelt
Conservation Partnership, The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, and
The Wildlife Society) have been working tirelessly to set the record
straight on the actual proposed scope of the bill.
Though the original bill did not expand
the scope of the Clean Water Act beyond historic interpretations, and it clearly
recognized and maintained long-standing exemptions for farming, ranching,
mining, and forestry, CWRA supporters believe clarifying language may be
needed to move the legislation forward. For this reason, WWA's partners in D.C. have offered support to
Representative Oberstar's (MN) and other bipartisan supporters' efforts
to craft amendments that address opponents' concerns while still
restoring pre-historic (i.e., pre-SWANCC) Clean Water Act protections for
isolated wetlands and headwater streams.
To help legislators and citizens
understand how the CWRA could be modified to address opponents concerns
and the many reasons why restoring federal protection for isolated
wetlands and headwater streams is critical and urgent, our partners have
released an information piece titled America
Needs Clean Water and Healthy Wetlands. The piece provides reliable
talking points on the extent to which wetlands and streams not currently
protected under federal law and details the ways the CWRA will lead to
better protection of national drinking water supplies, improved flood
control, less pollution in lakes, rivers and streams, enhanced wildlife
habitat and more.
When
talking about the need for wetland protection, don't forget that the EPA
estimates that one acre of wetland can store up to one million gallons of
water. Wisconsin
has already lost 5 trillion gallons of wetland flood storage. Other
states in the Mississippi
River Basin have
already lost 80-90% of their wetlands. We can't afford to lose more.
Photo: Gary Shackelford
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Why Does Wisconsin Need Federal Isolated Wetlands
Protections?
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Some opponents of the CWRA argue that
protection of isolated wetlands and headwaters streams is a matter best
left for the states to decide. WWA has even seen examples where
Wisconsin's isolated wetlands protection law (Act 6, 2003) is held up as
an argument against the need for to pass the CWRA.
To counter this argument WWA responded
by running an article entitled Does Wisconsin
Need Federal Protection for Isolated Wetlands? in
our Summer 2008 newsletter. The article explains why the lack of Federal
protections for isolated wetlands makes it more difficult to implement
and enforce wetland regulations in Wisconsin and cites numerous examples
of how other states' failures to protect wetlands along the Mississippi
River Flyway and throughout the Great Lakes Basin at the state level
results in impacts to wetlands, waterways and wildlife in Wisconsin.
The article was designed to serve as a
stand-alone piece that can be reprinted in partner newsletters and widely
distributed to generate grassroots and legislative support for the CWRA.
Please contact Erin
O'Brien at policy@
wisconsinwetlands.org if you would like to reprint or post the
article for distribution in your community.
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Outreach
Needed to Counter CWRA Misinformation Campaigns
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 Opposition to
the CWRA is strong, well-organized and gaining momentum based largely on
misinformation about the scope of the bill. We recently learned of a
coordinated effort to introduce resolutions against the CWRA at the County Board level. Opposition
resolutions have already passed in Vilas and Winnebago counties. Despite
the clause maintaining existing exemptions for agriculture, forestry and
other important Wisconsin industries,
opponents of the CWRA have skillfully convinced local leaders that the
CWRA substantially expands the historic scope of Clean Water Act
protections.
We ask WWA members and other supporters
to work with their County Conservation committee to educate their County Board about this bill and to watch
for and respond to any misinformation campaigns they see about the scope
and intent of the Act. Our friends at Ducks Unlimited developed an
excellent fact
sheet that you can use to help local leaders separate the CWRA myths
from the facts.
In
addition to sharing outreach materials from WWA and other partners, the
most effective thing you can do to counter CWRA misinformation campaigns
is to encourage people to READ
THE BILL. It's only 4 pages long. Engage them in a dialogue and ask
them to explain to you what specific language in the bill has them
concerned. Point them towards specific sections (e.g., the "Savings
Clause" in Section 6) that maintain historic and current exemptions
for Wisconsin's
agricultural and forestry industry.
Additional
background information about the CWRA, including details on whether your
Representative supports the bill can be found in WWA's CWRA Alert sent on April 8, 2008.
Photo: Dean Dimitri Krapf
Click here for
a state-wide directory listing members of Wisconsin's County Land
Conservation Committees.
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Attend Rep.
Petri's Listening Sessions (Aug. 4-8) to Encourage His Support of the
CWRA
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As the ranking Republican member of the
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Representative Petri
is in a unique position to help move the Clean Water Restoration Act
(CWRA) out of committee. Though not yet a CWRA sponsor, Representative Petri
cares about water and conservation issues. He appears receptive to the
CWRA but has expressed reservations about its scope.
From August 4-8, Rep. Petri will host 12
in-district "Citizen Hours" events. These listening sessions
provide an important opportunity for voters to express their concerns
about current events and issues (see event details below).
If you live in Wisconsin's 6th Congressional
District, please take the time to attend one of these sessions to ask
Rep. Petri to support the CWRA and to help bring it to a vote in his
committee. Your input will help convince him that the scope of the CWRA
is reasonable, and that benefits of the bill (e.g., clean drinking water,
protection of natural flood control areas, enhanced hunting, fishing and
recreation opportunities) far outweigh the risks being touted by
opponents. The articles to the left provide both national and
Wisconsin-specific reasons for why Petri should support this bill.
If you don't live in Rep. Petri's
district, but have friends or family who do and care about wetlands and
clean water, please forward this alert and encourage them to attend. WWA's goal is for Petri to receive input on the
benefits of the CWRA from at least one constituent at each of these
twelve sessions. Please help us track our progress by letting us know if
you or your friends and family plan to attend.
Dates and cities for Rep. Petri's August
4-8 listening sessions are included below. Complete details can be found here
(1.4MB pdf). A map of Wisconsin's 6th Congressional District
can be found here.
Schedule
for Representative Petri's "Citizen Hours" Events
Monday August 4:
9:00 - 10:00 am: Watertown
3:30 - 4:30 pm: Juneau
Tuesday, August 5:
10:30 - noon: Two Rivers
2:30 - 4:00 pm: Sheboygan
Wednesday, August 6:
9:30 - 10:30: Adams
3:30 - 4:30 pm: Wild Rose
Thursday, August 7:
9:30 - 10:30 am: Chilton
1:30 - 2:45 pm: Neenah
3:30 - 5:00 pm: Oshkosh
Friday, August 8:
9:00 - 10:00 am: Montello
11:00 - noon: Green Lake
2:00 - 3:30: Campbellsport
Photo: Creative Commons
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