| Vernal
Pool Monitoring Program Workshop and
Training |
Join The Nature Conservatory,
Friends of Wetlands, Black River RAP,
Black River Watershed Project, Ohio EPA
and Ohio Environmental Council for this
vernal pool workshop! Funding for this
workshop is graciously provided by Great
Lakes National Program Office and Ohio
EPA Ohio Environmental Education Fund
Register securely on-line
at https://secure.ga1.org/05/0206vp
or view the full brochure
http://www.theoec.org/pdfs/hottopics_events_0206vp.pdf
For more information contact
David R. Celebrezze at david@theOEC.org
or ph: (614) 487-7506. |
|
Congratulations to Elaine Marsh
|
During the November Ohio
Environmental Council Banquet, Elaine's
commitments and achievements were honored
by that organization with a lifetime
achievement award. The person who introduced
her to the large gathering was former
Director of the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources Frances Buchholzer, and her
remarks were glowing, showing immense
respect and admiration for Elaine's contributions
to the protection and championship of
Ohio's environment.
more... |
Dark
Days,
Bright Spots |
Suppose someone wanted to engage you
in a conversation about the techniques
and moral suasion of pederasty. Would
you willingly engage in such a conversation?
Or the merits of a plan to wipe out the
inhabitants of a neighboring city or
town? If
you are like me, you would recoil and freeze
up at the very idea of having such a discussion.
more... |
We
Miss Carol Portman |
Carol
was born in Henrietta Township and had
a special kinship with the Vermilion
River. At her initiative several years
ago she painstakingly identified landowners
along the Vermilion River for the Firelands
Land Conservancy. It was especially difficult
for the FLC to accomplish this in Huron
County, where a significant part of the
river is located, since there is no GIS
data in Huron County, and so had to be
done one parcel at a time. Carol
was also a host and guide for Lorain
County Metro Parks.
more... |
The Ballad of
Wally Martin |
Wally Martin wears gold chains and diamond
cuff links he got long ago from South Africa.
He wears pink and baby-blue Chinese silk
shirts that he bought for a song, and very
expensive, brightly-colored suits. Underneath
his outer clothing are strapped several
powerful handguns.
more... |
FOWL Needs a
NEOWC Rep! |
A number of local and area environmental
voices have been meeting as the Northeast
Ohio once a month in the Cleveland area,
often out near Peninsula, Ohio. Friends
of Wetlands is one of the voices that
have been requested to attend these gatherings,
organized by the Ohio Environmental Council.
NEOWC seeks to combine voices, share
concerns, and take action to make all
our efforts to protect the environment
more effective.
more... |
What
is "Wetland
Sights and Sounds"? |
The Izaak Walton League of America is
offering a unique opportunity for you to
experience wetlands in your email inbox.
Wetland Sights and Sounds is a series of
eight email news flashes to help you get
ready for American Wetlands Month in May.
more... |
Help Save Gorge Metro Park |
Despite decades of recovery, and improved
efforts to manage our natural resources,
new threats to the biodiversity of the
Metro Parks, Serving Summit County continue
to come out of the woodwork. The staff
at Metro Parks is presently working with
a coalition of regulatory agencies, community
groups, and environmental organizations
to address a threat to Gorge Metro Park
and the Cuyahoga River that could have
long-lasting and serious impacts.
more... |
| ODNR Applies to
Destroy High Quality Wetlands on Middle Bass Island |
Ohio has already lost 90% of its original
wetlands. Wetlands along Lake Erie and
on its islands provide nesting habitat
and migration corridors for more than 200
species of birds. Audubon Ohio has designated
Middle Bass Island an Important Bird Area.
The size and scope of the proposed marina
expansion doesn’t make sense and
is not in the best interest of Ohioans.
The Ohio EPA is accepting public comments
on ODNR’s permit to destroy wetlands
until January 28th. Take this opportunity
to let them know that destroying wetlands
and bird habitat is not the right direction.
more... |
Testimony at
the Great
Lakes Restoration
Plan Hearing in Cleveland |
The Draft Great Lakes Restoration Plan
is so worthy and so overdue that it is
hard to keep one's breath while praising
it. The history of human destruction and
degradation of this system is so breathtaking,
so protracted, ongoing and so relentless
that an effort to restore it seems like
a separate reality, a la Carlos
Castaneda. It is really quite schizophrenic.
more... |
Tecumseh Was Right
Anna E. Martin Property Mugged
Again |
Lorain City Council met Monday, October
24, in a session to vote on whether to
accept zoning changes that would allow "Liberty" Developers
to destroy 65 acres of woods and wetlands
on the northwest corner of Tower Blvd.
and SR 58 and install a Home Depot store.
About half the public audience was comprised
of members of the Church on the North Coast
(CONC), the entity which wants to sell
the property to "Liberty" development
for a huge profit; naturally all these
souls were supportive of the development,
lugubriously eschewing any self interest
and trumpeting the need for jobs and the
great experience of shopping at Lorain's
own big box home improvement center - a
wonderful Home Depot!
more... |
Home Depot and
WalMart Permits Granted - A Big Surprise!(?) |
The Ohio EPA has granted both the
Home Depot permit for the Church on the
North Coast, destroying 16 acres of the
Anna Martin Property in Lorain, and the
permit for the "Chestnut Commons" WoeMart
between Elyria and Grafton. Both projects
will destroy wetlands located on Lake Plains
sites.
more... |
| Martin Friends Battle Church and
Home Depot |
The Friends of Anna E. Martin have
been waging a long hard fight to save
63.5 acres of wooded land (Mrs. Martin
left in her will) from being developed
into a large shopping center called Lighthouse
Village. The
Church on the North Coast, which presently
owns the property, has asked the Probate
Court to lift the deed restrictions which
prohibited such development to be lifted. The
Court ruled they could be lifted if rezoning
was approved by the City of Lorain.
more... |
Chestnut Common
Permit Appealed |
Well the EPA has granted WalMart permission
to fill in the wetlands at Chestnut Commons.
We have 30 days from Dec. 21, 2005 to write
letters of appeal. I am not sure what happens
with an appeal but they gave an address
to write to the Review committee and I
have done that. If anyone is interested
in doing the same thing, I have copied
and pasted my letter with this email, feel
free to use my letter, your own, or add
whatever you want.
more... |
Biodiversity
Values of Geographically Isolated Wetlands
in the United States |
As a result of a 2001 Supreme Court
decision (Solid Waste Agency of Northern
Cook County vs. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
2001), some wetlands and other waters
that are considered “geographically isolated” from
navigable waters no longer fall under the
jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. Scientific
assessments of the potential impacts of
the court’s decision are needed to
provide guidance to the federal agencies,
states, tribes and local governments that
will have responsibility for protecting
these valuable resources.
more... |
| Let’s
Have an electronic Newsletter |
Do we have the technology? Yes, FOWL
has been using a list-serve to keep in
touch with members who simply go to www.fowl.org
and sign up. The newsletter has been posted
to the website (with excellent picture
quality by-the-way) for years. So what’s
keeping us from issuing an electronic newsletter?
Simply, we don’t have your
email address.
more... |
| Orchids Mowed |
I recently had occasion to show some
rare orchid sites in the Cuyahoga Valley
to their botanist/naturalist in charge
of trying to list, keep track of and protect
such plants. Before I could take Rob Curtis,
one site that held a state listed species
was mowed by the national park maintenance
workers.
more... |
| Population
Ecology |
Can you list the most basic requirements
that any living organism needs to survive?
What are the truly essentials requirements
for life? Since few living things
survive for long without others of its
kind, let’s ask about the needs of
an entire population.
more... |
Wetlands and
Global Warming |
"Global warming? What global
warming?" asks President Golum.
That's the first line of argument of
the carmakers and oil companies, their
hirelings in government, and the cretins
who roll around in this feel good culture
like pigs in slop.
more... |
Wetlands and
Hurricane Katrina |
The horrible destruction caused by Hurricane
Katrina could have been greatly ameliorated
if the coastal wetlands and offshore barrier
islands had not been decimated by the shipping
industry and real estate developers. These
areas of emergent vegetation have been
largely destroyed by the building of shipping
canals into the coastal wetlands and the
erection of housing development and other
development on this land.
more... |
Fairy Shrimp:
The Ephemeral Enigma |
Some animals may use vernal pools when
the opportunity for feeding, shelter, or
other needs presents itself, but can fulfill
these needs without the use of vernal pools.
But some animals must have vernal
pools to survive; they are obligated to
live or breed in vernal pools. These organisms
are referred to as obligate vernal pool
species.
more... |
| A Regional Land Trust
in Northern Ohio |
As of January 1, 2006, the Western
Reserve Land Conservancy formation is
official. The Firelands Land Conservancy
is now called the “Western Reserve Land Conservancy – Firelands
Chapter.” Each Chapter will have
their own regional field director, local
Board of Directors, representation on the
WRLC board, and their own individuality.
more... |
