August 2006 |
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Click the flag for
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This Newsletter Needs a Mailing Captain
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Ashes, Ashes.... |
Who knew, when we were kids blithely chanting the nonsense nursery rhyme, that these words were no nonsense at all? That they were a macabre response of children in medieval times who faced likely extermination by the plague?
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FOWL at Firelands Boy Scout Camp |
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Helping at Oberlin's George Jones Wetlands |
There have been six rectangular wetlands ("cells") dug, with gradual gradients at one end. Two of these have been intensively vegetated with both seeds and "plugs" (grown plants), two less intensively vegetated, and two left to develop naturally from whatever species remain in the seed bank (the seeds that have lain dormant in the soil in the many years since this place was natural habitat) and whatever species were brought in by birds and other animals. |
Post Cards for Youngsters (of all ages) |
One of the undeveloped services of this newsletter has been to engage and educate children. I have long recognized the importance of a children's page or some other aspect of the newsletter that could involve participation of youngsters. A few weeks ago, while talking about the post cards with Rick Lawrence, we hit upon the idea of having the pictures on our post cards be colorable, so that the senders - or their children - could spice them up with a little art. |
Western Reserve Land Conservancy, Firelands Chapter News |
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I Buy some Books |
In the last issue I mentioned two very important and useful books I bought to add to my reference and educational resources: Amphibian Declines and Insect Evolution. In the last month I have also purchased a few more very useful tomes. |
Frog Heaven |
Doug Wechsler's Frog Heaven: Ecology of a Vernal Pool does a great job of introducing this habitat through charming language and truly beautiful photographs that show plants and animals, from detailed close-ups to more panoramic views of the pool. |
Great Insect Book |
In case you haven’t heard, I just wanted to pass along the link for an incredible new insect book that has just been published. While this is not a field guide (it is large, 9" X 11" and about 2" thick), it is very well done, showing a wealth of photos and providing some very interesting natural history information. You can review the info about the book and order it, if you wish, from this link: http://tinyurl.com/p2ktv |
Wetlands Legal Symposium |
The Association of State Wetland Managers, Inc. and I invite you to participate in a legal update symposium, Wetlands and Other “Waters of the U.S.” Legal issue and Challenges, as part of Wetlands 2006.The legal symposium will be held at the Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City, Michigan on Monday, August 28 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and continue on Tuesday afternoon, August 29 from 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
Great Lakes Restoration Conference |
September 22-24, 2006 Event includes dynamic speakers, networking opportunities, a sunset dinner cruise on Lake Erie, field trips, and more. Crowne Plaza City Centre, Cleveland, Ohio Sponsored by the Healing Our Waters, Great Lakes Coalition. For more information contact the Ohio Environmental Council at greatlakes@theoec.org or call (614) 487-7506 |
Welcome Comments by Kathleen |
You’ve done it again! Thank you for another informative and inspiring newsletter. Other readers- if you are not receiving the FOWL newsletter by mail, go to newsletter.fowl.org/ and you will see it online, as well as past issues. Yay, Daryl, on the America Elm!
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Cow CAFO Threatens Wood County |
We learned that our new neighbor would be 925 cows – a mega dairy, an industrialized dairy farm (officially called a CAFO - Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation). The term CAFO also applies to beef cattle, hogs, chickens, turkeys or any other animal raised in industrial confinement.
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FOWL Web - |
Keeping up with advancements in technology and the potential of the internet has been a theme of my teaching career which also has some application for FOWL. Having a summer to explore my personal interests, I chose to explore a web development feature known as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). |
Bravo to The Blade |
One sees little knowledgeable and sympathetic treatment of wetland and amphibian issues in Ohio's newspapers. Therefore it has been most heartening to read a number of careful, informed, and (therefore) provocative articles on these topics featured in The Toledo Blade over the past few months.
Wetlands-replacement Efforts Fall Short: and Amphibian Evictions (at the Toledo Blade online) |
Our Computer is Giving Up |
After almost eight years of rugged service, this computer is starting to flag. The 3½" floppy drive is no longer working; neither are either of the CD drives or the Zip drive. Thus the last year or more of material - including the newsletter, image, and other document files - cannot be backed up. |
Coloring the |
The top of the fish (its back) is olive-colored or yellow-brown. The very center of the back has a dark brown mottled stripe. The sides are a pale yellow with brown vertical bands. The belly is yellow-white or silvery-white, and the fins are a pale yellow-olive. I (John) drew this picture based on the illustration in Trautman's The Fishes of Ohio, OSU Press, Columbus, 1981.
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Panel Spars Over Wetlands In Wake Of High Court Ruling |
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee members sparred Tuesday over whether Congress should clarify divided Supreme Court positions regarding the scope of the federal government's ability to regulate wetlands. |
Fed Jurisdiction Upheld |
In the first Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruling to consider Clean Water Act jurisdiction after the Supreme Court's decision in Rapanos v. United States, 126 S.Ct. 2208 (2006), the Ninth Circuit affirmed CWA protection for a pond adjacent to the Russian River in northern California. |
Rapanos Needs Clarification |
In conjunction with issuing a stay barring development on the property at issue, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has asked for briefing on how the Supreme Court's decision in Rapanos impacts the jurisdiction of desert washes. |
House Sends a Message |
Last night, the House of Representatives voted 222-198 in favor of the Oberstar/Leach/Dingell Clean Water Amendment to the Interior/EPA appropriations bill. The amendment prevents the EPA from continuing to use the SWANCC-related policy guidance it issued with the Corps of Engineers in January, 2003. The vote was a strong, bipartisan message to the administration that the outdated guidance, cited by two GAO reports as creating massive confusion and leading to loss of protection for many waters that should still be protected under the law, has to go. Representatives Oberstar (D-MN), Dingell (D-MI), Boehlert (R-NY) and Gilchrest (R-MD) did an impressive job defending the amendment on the floor. Rep. Gilchrest should win the “creative prop” award for demonstrating the connectivity of bodies of water by pouring water from one cup to another on the House floor, while giving his speech! |
OEC Comments to Ohio EPA on Stream Rules |
As the Ohio EPA reviews the submitted 401 comments from various interests, we, the undersigned, wish to take this opportunity to address certain areas of concern. Some comments submitted to the Ohio EPA have suggested that the agency is going beyond its authority authorized by the Ohio Revised Code 6111.04.1 thus the Agency is acting unlawful and unreasonable in sections of the proposed rules. Below is a partial list of those comments with a rebuttal. |
Gorge Dam Still Under Threat |
Summit County Metro parks have denied Advanced Hydrosystems access to Gorge Metro Park, where the company want to do a study that would satisfy the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). A judge - whether it will be a federal or local one is not clear (at least when I saw Elaine Marsh at the Burning River Fest on August 14) if I remember correctly - must decide if the company has the right to go onto Summit County Metroparks property. FERC has apparently given Advanced Hydroelectric all green lights so far; the company must still demonstrate that the benefits of using the site for an electric power station outweigh the losses to community if the Metro Parks is unable to remove the dam as planned. Please contact Mike Johnson at Summit County Metro Parks at www.summitmetroparks.org for more information and suggestions for how to help - and send in the post cards. |
A Disappearing Act |
When David Wake, a salamander specialist from UC Berkeley, surveyed salamanders near Oaxaca, Mexico in the 1970s he would see hundreds in a day. In 2003, scouring the same area with three other herpetologists (those who study amphibians and reptiles), the team found a grand total of four in a day's work. |
“An Inconvenient Truth” |
Al Gore cogently makes the case that global warming is here and constitutes an immediate threat to the planet. Al spans the globe numerous times in his dynamic Power-Point slide presentation. Traveling with his crew from the shrinking glaciers of Patagonia to Greenland, from the nearly dried up Lake Chad to the shrinking Black Sea.
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The task of mailing was once borne by a very capable and committed captain who has some time since become so busy he is unable to shoulder this major chore, and no one has stepped in to fill the breach. It is of supreme importance that someone accept this responsibility; I can't continue to take it on myself. 
We visited a number of wetlands, all of which were very high quality . One of these was a an extensive skunk cabbage river channel, one a Buttonbush swamp with Black Ash ringing it, and one a smaller vernal pool with the sedges Carex prasina, C. bromoides, C. crinita, C. lupulina, and C. stipata, as well as beautiful Tufted Loosestrife in bloom.
The Firelands Land Conservancy merged with seven other northern Ohio land trusts on Jan 1, 2006, to form the Western Reserve Land Conservancy. The FLC is now the Firelands Chapter of the WRLC. The WRLC hired a new Field Director, Andy McDowell, for the Firelands Chapter.
Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity: 
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Last updated March 22, 2008 |
Friends of Wetlands © 2008 |
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