August 2007

New FOWL Computers On Line

Yes, finally, a newsletter produced on the new FOWL Computers! Some writing was done on fine days in the back yard or out camping (THANK YOU Catharina Caldwell!!!) on the Sony laptop, and the remainder on this system (THANK YOU, Russ Whatley!!)

OCMP in Danger

The Ohio Coastal Management Plan - an excellent program being done by ODNR - was being funded by submerged lands leases. Governor Strickland has given the private landowners their way in the matter, and this source of funding will cease. OCMP may now cease as well. This is an awful development, and smells like a campaign deal to me.

Check Out EarthWatch Ohio

Stefanie Spear has resumed work publishing an outstanding - and free - semi-monthly paper on a wide range of environmental issues, ranging from transportation to habitat to urban planning to health. Area efforts to promote environmental progress and awareness are featured in every issue, and contributions from the public are welcome. This is definitely worth checking out! EarthWatch Ohio is at PO Box 213, Chagrin Falls OH 44022; ph (216) 387-1609; spear@earthwatchohio.org;

www.earthwatchohio.org

What's Going On?

My life upon retirement will change - its rhythms, its callings: the very dust of time will blow a different way. I am coming around a bend where I'm looking to see if the end is in sight. This world shines brighter and brighter; all things become more relieved, mordant, sweet - except treacherous time. "the whole world then in more triumphant faith than ever was since the world was said," according to  B. Dylan's namesake. And mid this tumult...

October Natural Areas Conference

The Natural Areas Association and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History are proud to present the 34th annual Natural Areas Conference to be held at the Cleveland Marriott at Key Center, October 9-12, 2007. The theme of the Conference is Some Assembly Required: Preserving Nature in a Fragmented Landscape.

Some Wonderful Outings

When a piece of land is being considered for a conservation easement it is important to survey the property for plants and animals. I participated in several such surveys this summer with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy

NWF Response to EPA/COE Guidance

Following a confusing Supreme Court decision last year that threw Clean Water Act protections into disarray, the Army Corps and EPA today offered guidance that only further confuses the scope of the Clean Water Act and confounds the agencies' ability to protect the nation's waters. 

House Passes Farm Bill

On Friday, July 27, the House passed their version of the 2007 Farm Bill. The bill increases overall funding for conservation of bird and wildlife habitat on private lands.

Salamander Heaven
Off to the Races

A critical habitat in Crosby Township, OH (northwest Hamilton County) is under threat to become a major drag-race track / tractor-pull facility. Jeff Davis (Author of “Ohio’s Frogs and Toads” and considered a top expert on Ohio’s reptiles and amphibians) conducted a survey of the area in the 1980’s that revealed one of the most diverse amphibian habitats in the region.

Fowl Events

FOWL Picnic VIII was big fun. About 50 people showed up, including a few newcomers and some people who were attending the Western Reserve Land Conservancy event the same day and heard about the picnic there. The food was great as always, and Ray got about a dozen people to hand write letters to Senator Voinovich concerning the farm bills (which see below). Alan had his canoe in the Huron River and various folk paddled about as the Wind in the Willows blew out of a storybook day.
           
The East Sandusky Bay canoe trip organized by Ray was tremendous; it was great to see Sheryl Young. Kathleen Bradley was there, as well as Ray and Alan Tomko, who does professional photography and took this splendid shot of Carol at the edge of a bed of Water Lotus.

Good Decisions from
the 9th Circuit

From: Julie Sibbing

The Ninth District U.S. Circuit Court recently handed down decisions in two cases that will help protect wetlands in the face of the disastrous SWANCC and Rapanos Supreme Court decisions. - JK

1) Northern CaliforniaRiver Watch v. City of Healdsburg, No. 04-15442 (9th Cir. Aug. 6, 2007).

2) United States of America v. Moses, No. 06-30379 (9th Cir. August 3,  2007).

FVRW Open House Held
in February

- by June Maslanka

The Friends of the Vermilion River Watershed held an open house at the Vermilion on the Lake Historic Community Center on Saturday, February 14. Participating were Friends of the Vermilion River Watershed, the Huron and Erie County Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Back to the Wild, the Ohio Environmental Council, ODNR, the Erie County Health Department, Lorain Co. Community College, Keel Haulers Kayaking and Canoeing, Dave's Bait and Tackle, the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, the World Animal Federation, and the Lorain County Solid Waste Management District.

CAFO Madness

In the last weeks of the Taft Administration oversight of CAFO's (factory farms) was transferred from the OEPA to the Ohio Department of Agriculture; the ODA never met a factory farm it didn't like. Apparently the Strickland EPA will not try to regain authority, much to the horror of people trying to fight off CAFO's or make them obey the law (a series of OEPA letters to a CAFO that has refused to even apply for a permit, saying ODA had given it all the permits it needs, is pathetic, and this farm is spilling manure and killing thousands of fish. Oh well. Ho hum. Where's the beef. Shiver me timbers. Nyit nyit nyit nyit... never mind.

And in a tortuous maze of bureaucratic legalistic glop, there is a fracas about the OEPA's Director to change the conditions of a permit while it is under appeal. This center around the Coke Plant trying to force itself onto the city of Oregon, Ohio, where even the mayors of the area, including Toledo's, who once backed the plant, have done an about-face. Wow. Kawabunga sostenuto.

401 Review Hearings
Wrapping Up

In July I attended the first Ohio EPA 401 rules review meeting I was able to attend (because of my job). The focus was whether and how to give urban wetlands some special consideration in the permitting process because there are so few and they are being destroyed at such an alarming rate.

OVC Seeks to Destroy
Casey Run

Ohio Valley Coal has applied a 401 permit from the Ohio EPA to construct an impoundment on Casey Run, a tributary of Captina Creek, which is one of the finest Cold Water Habitat streams in Ohio.

Greg Lipps' Comments on Casey Run

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing to express my concerns about the Clean Water Act Section 401 certification application submitted by Ohio Valley Coal to create a coal slurry impoundment and a course coal refuse disposal area in the Casey Run watershed.      

Cruising for Cruisers
 - by Ray Stewart

The Ohio Dragonfly Conference in Wooster, July 21-22, was fun, educational and inspirational. John, Patricia, Kathleen, David, myself and a total of 140 participants shared in the excitement. Who knew that such an exclusive, narrowly focused topics would draw such a crowd!

A Little Odonate Biology

Dragonflies and damselflies make up the insect order Odonata ("odon-" means "tooth")*. These animals are characterized by many features, including two forewings that can be operated independently of the two hind wings, affording them astounding maneuverability (they can even fly backwards!).

Is it a Wetland?

One of the most frequently asked questions that people have when they see bulldozers moving into a spot in their neighborhood is, "I think this area might be a wetland. How do I know? What makes it a wetland?