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Protect Freshwater Wetlands and Wildlife

Current regulations do not adequately track or review the direct or cumulative loss of smaller wetlands or smaller parts of larger wetlands. Because mitigation for these losses is not required, the cumulative loss of wetlands is hurting water quality, flood control, and wildlife.

In addition to being vital habitat for plants and animals, many of which are already on the state's endangered and threatened species list, small wetlands are important landscape features which must be protected. If we think of them as wetland islands in a sea of upland forests, we see that groups of wetlands form stepping stones of hospitable habitat along which wetland-dependant wildlife may travel.

As more and more wetlands are lost, the distances between the remaining wetlands increases, often to the point where distances are greater than wetland-dependent animals can travel. These species often form the basis of a complicated forest food web and if lost or greatly diminished in number, can no longer support the populations of reptiles, birds and mammals that depend upon them.

Maine Audubon strongly supports a bill put forward by Rep. Ted Koffman (D-Bar Harbor) that would give added protection to Maine's fragile wetlands.

LD 1160, An Act to Increase Wetland Protection, would require Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to apply all Natural Resources Protection Act standards to Tier I wetlands before issuing a permit. LD 1160 also requires DEP, when reviewing applications to consider other impacts that have occurred to the wetland in the past year.

In addition, this bill would direct the DEP to develop a wetlands compensation program for small wetlands. Taking into account the cumulative losses of wetlands across the landscape will help DEP develop a more effective compensation program. Finally, LD 1160 requires DEP to review current exemptions to the wetland rules.

YOU CAN HELP

Please attend and speak at the public hearing on Thursday.

WHO: Natural Resources Committee

WHAT: LD 1160, An Act to Increase Wetland Protection

WHEN: Thursday, April 7th / 1:00 p.m.

WHERE: Room 214, State Office Building, Augusta. Directions

If you cannot attend the hearing, send a fax now or please call the chairs or your legislators serving on the Natural Resources Committee today.

Urge lawmakers to SUPPORT protections for Maine's freshwater wetlands. Please contact your legislators serving on the Natural Resources Commitee today. Use the toll-free numbers below to call anytime to leave a message.

Legislative Message Lines

Senate: (800) 423-6900 TTY: (207) 287-1583
House: (800) 423-2900 TTY: (207) 287-4469

 

Natural Resources Committee

Sen. Scott W. Cowger (D-Kennebec), Chair

Sen. John L. Martin (D-Aroostook)

Sen. Lois A. Snowe-Mello (R-Androscoggin)

Rep. Theodore S. Koffman (D-Bar Harbor), Chair

Rep. Joanne T. Twomey (D-Biddeford)

Rep. Thomas B. Saviello (D-Wilton)

Rep. Judd D. Thompson (D-China)

Rep. Robert S. Duchesne (D-Hudson)

Rep. Jane E. Eberle (D-South Portland)

Rep. Robert A. Daigle (R-Arundel)

Rep. Henry L. Joy (R-Crystal)

Rep. James D. Annis (R-Dover-Foxcroft)

Rep. Kimberley C. Rosen (R-Bucksport)

Background

The loss of wetlands continues across Maine and the United States, resulting in the cumulative loss of wetlands that almost everywhere is adversely affecting water quality, flood control, and wildlife.

In a recent analysis of wetland permits awarded by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection between 1995-2001, over half of the permits fell under Tier I wetland review, with impacts up to 15,000 square feet of wetland. While this might not seem significant when reviewing any single permit, put together the cumulative loss of these wetlands can be substantial, especially if concentrated in one or several geographic areas. In addition, according to a 2003 analysis of cumulative wetland loss in the Casco Bay watershed, it is clear that forested wetlands are the single most common wetland type being lost.

National studies have concluded that wetland creation is simply not meeting the goals of no net loss of wetlands, not only because total acreage is still being lost, but because wetland functions are also being lost. For example, an open marsh that has been created to replace the loss of a forested wetland simply does not provide the same functions as that forested wetland. Instead, wetland scientists from around the country are banding together to push for better restoration, preservation, and permitting.

Why should we care about the loss of small wetlands, the cumulative loss of many small parts of larger wetlands, and the loss of wooded wetlands?

It is now clear to scientists that the loss of total number of wetlands, not just the loss of total area of wetland, negatively affects the survival and reproduction of many wetland-dependent wildlife species. Many wetland species live in multiple local populations that are sustained through occasional migration to and from neighboring wetlands. However, the dispersal distance for many wetland animals is quite small, generally less than 0.3 km for frogs, salamanders, and small mammals, and less than 0.5 km for reptiles.

The destruction of small wetlands in the landscape increases the distances between remaining wetlands and often, these distances are greater than wetland-dependent animals can travel. These species often form the basis of a complicated terrestrial forest food web and if lost or greatly diminished in number, can no longer support the populations of larger reptiles, birds and mammals that depend upon them. Scientists in New England have documented that the weight of pool-breeding amphibians in small wetlands exceed the weight of all breeding birds and small mammals in the same area of forest.