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July 2004 |
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Let music swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees Sweet Freedom's song; Let mortal tongues awake; Let all that breathe partake; Let rocks their silence break, The sound prolong. ~ from America (My Country 'tis of Thee) |
Editors Note
July is Lakes Awareness Month, and the nice summer weather provides the perfect excuse to get out and enjoy your favorite lake, or a lake you’ve never visited before. For information on events in your area, or ideas on how you can organize your own Lakes Appreciation Month activities, visit the Lakes Appreciation Month web site at http://www.nalms.org/lakesappreciation/law.htm. Visit http://dipin.kent.edu for information on participating in the 10th Anniversary of the Great North American Secchi Dip-In, which is being held from June 26 to July 18, 2004.
We are pleased that interest in F. X. Browne, Inc.'s Lake & Watershed News and our subscriber list have been growing, and beginning with this July issue, we are now using an email management system powered by Topica (http://www.topica.com) to better serve our subscribers. Please be assured that the Lake and Watershed News subscriber list remains secure and will not be used by any outside party. F. X. Browne, Inc. appreciates your dedicated readership, and we welcome any comments you may have about our newsletter. Please also let us know if you encounter any technical difficulties in reading this issue. For information about F. X. Browne, Inc.'s services, please browse our website or send an e-mail message to info@fxbrowne.com.
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| Wildlife:
Plus or Pest ?
In a perfect world, humans and wildlife would coexist without much interaction. However, as humans continue to convert wildlife habitat into human habitat, problems inevitably occur. While many people enjoy the presence of wildlife, under specific conditions certain animals have the potential to threaten other wildlife populations, the environment in which they live, agriculture and aquaculture industries, and human health and safety. More… Next newsletter: Hydroseeding: The Most Bang for your Buck.
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According to a recent USGS report, "Water Quality in the Nation's Streams and Aquifers-Overview of Selected Findings, 1991-2001,” notable trends related to the water quality in our nation’s wetlands, rivers and streams over the past decade include: |
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Changes in land management practices can improve water quality in streams over time. For example, changing from furrow to sprinkler and drip irrigation in parts of Washington's Yakima River Basin has reduced runoff from fields resulting in less sediment and compounds such as DDT in streams. In fact, concentrations of total DDT in large-scale suckers, smallmouth bass, and carp from the lower Yakima River decreased by about half since the 1980's. |
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Even low levels of urban development have an impact. In Anchorage, Alaska for example, the abundance and diversity of aquatic insects became affected when about five percent of a watershed was converted into impervious areas like parking lots. |
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Natural features, such as soils, climate, and geology, are an important influence on water quality in watersheds. For example, mercury concentrations in fish are affected by the amount of wetlands and chemical properties of soils and water, and therefore, fish in forested streams in New England had higher levels of mercury than fish in the more urban watersheds in the Boston metropolitan area. |
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Contaminants can occur naturally, even in relatively pristine areas like Wyoming and Montana's Yellowstone River Basin. Elevated phosphorus concentrations were noted as derivatives from igneous and marine sedimentary rocks. Elevated arsenic levels are most likely from sedimentary rocks in contact with geothermal waters. |
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See News Clips article below, or visit http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/nawqasum/. |
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News Clips
USGS Report - How Healthy Are Our Rivers and Streams?
America's rivers and streams are generally suitable for irrigation, drinking water, and home and recreational uses. However, in areas with significant agricultural and urban development, the quality of our nation's water resources has been degraded by contaminants such as pesticides, nutrients, and gasoline-related compounds. More…
When it Comes to Wetlands, We Have Some Good News and Some Bad News…
A number of reports have recently been released that seek to summarize the effectiveness of current wetland legislation and highlight the importance of natural wetland systems. More…
Angler Catches Snakehead in Virginia
The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) reported that a snakehead fish was caught by an angler in Little Hunting Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River, near Mt. Vernon on Friday, May 7, 2004. More…
CBF Says New Policy to Require Phosphorous Controls on Farms Will Reduce Runoff Pollution
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation applauded a new policy requiring that agricultural nutrient management plans limit the application of phosphorus in areas at risk of runoff into waterways, saying it will reduce pollution in Pennsylvania’s rivers and streams. More…
Policy Update
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The NJ State Legislature approved the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act on June 10, 2004 with overwhelming bipartisan support (34-2 in the Senate and 69-10 in the Assembly). Passage of the bill involved some last-minute political wrangling to help Pinelands growth towns cope with spiraling school enrollments and lost property taxes caused by the Pinelands law. For more information on the bill, see the article in the May issue of Lake and Watershed News. |
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The NJ State Legislature passed another controversial bill recently that encourages the construction of new houses and businesses in certain parts of the state by streamlining the building approval process. Lawmakers said the “smart growth” legislation would increase tax collections for towns where development should be encouraged, but environmental groups bitterly complained that it would wipe out decades of efforts to stop sprawl and protect resources in an overcrowded state. The bill - the price for assuring broad support for the Highlands preservation measure - would create an ombudsman at the Department of Community Affairs, who would be charged with shepherding through "good" projects. |
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The US Army on Thursday scrapped plans to curtail some environmental protections and contracts after learning from Pentagon budget officials it could make do with cuts elsewhere. The about-face came after The Associated Press reported earlier Thursday about an Army memorandum directing base commanders to shift money out of environmental programs. The Army later said it would carry out other measures - such as a hiring freeze and lower spending for travel and conferences - to help pay for costly military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. |
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President Bush signed an Executive Order creating the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force. The Task Force, under the lead of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), brings together ten Agency and Cabinet officers to provide strategic direction on federal Great Lakes policy, priorities and programs. The ten agencies together administer more than 140 different federal programs that help fund and implement environmental restoration and management activities in the Great Lakes basin. The Executive Order calls for the development of outcome-based goals such as cleaner water, sustainable fisheries, and system biodiversity and calls on the Task Force to ensure federal efforts target measurable results. http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/taskforce/index.html. |
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a revised list of species of plants and animals that may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act, including 26 new candidate species added since the Candidate Notice of Review was last published in 2002. The Service has removed 19 species from the Candidate Species List since the lists were last revised in 2002. The complete Notice and list of candidates and proposed species appear in the Federal Register http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a040504c.html. In addition, revised regulations have been authorized that will encourage private landowners to undertake voluntary conservation measures on their property to benefit threatened, endangered and at-risk species. The new regulations will improve the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Safe Harbor and Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances policies by providing clearer definitions and more certainty to property owners. For more information, view the press release at http://news.fws.gov/NewsReleases/r9/524A1111-B90F-410C-813E27ECB342BE0D.html. |
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On June 9, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) released a draft plan regarding groundwater management throughout the Susquehanna basin. The 160-page draft plan, Groundwater Management Plan for the Susquehanna River Basin, includes: (1) an assessment of the current groundwater problems and management issues, and (2) a series of 37 recommended actions needed to ensure the sustainability of the basin's groundwater resources and to address impacts on the resource including those from growth and development, droughts, current and past mining, transfers out of watersheds, unknown and unregulated uses, and management measures.. The plan is open for a 90-day public comment period. The draft plan is available on SRBC's web site at http://www.srbc.net. Persons interested in commenting on the draft plan should direct their comments by Sept. 9 to Paula Ballaron, Section Chief, Project Review and Compliance, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, 1721 North Front Street, Harrisburg, PA, 17102, Phone: 717-238-0423, ext 222, Fax: 717-238-2436, e-Mail pballaron@srbc.net. |
 
Grant Programs (Click on a grant for more information) |
 
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NAWCA Wetland Conservation Grants |
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| By June 1776 the efforts of the American colonists to work out their differences with England had become hopeless and a committee was formed to compose a formal Declaration of Independence. Headed by Thomas Jefferson, the committee included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Philip Livingston and Roger Sherman. Thomas Jefferson was chosen to write the first draft which was presented to the Continental Congress on June 28. After various changes, a vote was taken late in the afternoon of July 4th. Of the 13 colonies, 9 voted in favor of the Declaration, 2 - Pennsylvania and South Carolina - voted No, Delaware was undecided and New York abstained. To make it official, John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence. It is said that John Hancock signed his name "with a great flourish" so "King George can read that without spectacles!" |
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The following day, copies of the Declaration were distributed. The first newspaper to print the Declaration was the Pennsylvania Evening Post on July 6, 1776. On July 8th the Declaration had its first public reading in Philadelphia's Independence Square amid cheering crowds and pealing church bells. And although the signing of the Declaration was not completed until August, the 4th of July has been accepted as the official anniversary of United States independence. The first Independence Day celebration took place the following year - July 4 1777. By the early 1800s the traditions of parades, picnics, and fireworks were established as the way to celebrate America's birthday. |
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Events NJPDES Municipal Stormwater Permit Workshops
Environmental Training Institute
Sustainable Landscapes Workshop
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Motorists can take steps to make gasoline dollars go farther and minimize the impact of high fuel prices on our daily lives. Some ways to do that include the following: |
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Avoid quick stops and starts. This can save up to two miles per gallon. |
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Don't be an aggressive driver. It lowers gas mileage by as much as 33 percent on the highway and 5 percent on city streets, which results in 7 cents to 49 cents a gallon. |
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Avoid excessive idling. Sitting idle gets zero miles per gallon and consumes between one half and one gallon of gasoline per hour. |
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Check your vehicle’s gas cap. Loose, damaged and missing gas caps allow 147 million gallons of gas to vaporize every year. |
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Check your tire pressure. When tires are under-inflated, it is like driving with the parking brake on and can cost a mile or two per gallon. |
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Replace worn spark plugs. A vehicle can have up to eight spark plugs, which fire as many as 3 million times every 1,000 miles. A dirty spark plug causes misfiring, wasting fuel. |
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Replace dirty air filters that waste gas and cause engines to lose power. Replacing these filters can improve gas mileage by as much as 10 percent, saving about 15 cents a gallon. |
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Combine errands to reduce vehicle miles traveled. |
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Take unnecessary weight out of trunks or back seats. By some estimates, hauling around an extra 100 pounds can cost 1 mile per gallon. |
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Whenever possible, take public transportation or carpool. |
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DEP Update 5/28/2004 |
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Link Of The Month
Baltimore Ecosystem Study
When people think of ecology, they usually imagine studies out in the country. People and cities usually don't come to mind when ecology is mentioned. The Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) aims to understand metropolitan Baltimore as an ecological system. The program brings together researchers from the biological, physical, and social sciences to collect new data and synthesize existing information on how both the ecological and engineered systems of Baltimore work. In spite of the fact that a majority of the US population lives in metropolitan areas, ecologists have not studied cities and their surrounding suburban and rural lands as ecological systems. Some isolated studies of specific factors have been performed, but the integrated studies to examine biodiversity, nutrient and energy flow, ecological structure, and dynamics of all these things through time, have not been done. This study is cutting edge research to investigate the social, hydrological, atmospheric, and built components of the metropolitan ecosystem for a complete ecological understanding of an urban area. Visit the website at http://www.beslter.org.
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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote! --Benjamin Franklin, 1759 |
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| New Publications
USDA Announces CRP Refinements The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) recently announced several program refinements to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), including important program modifications on enrollment eligibility, new software development and timing of a future general CRP sign-up. A final rule, published in the Federal Register, adopts changes made to CRP by the 2002 Farm Bill, including the increase in the acreage cap by 2.8 million acres to a total of 39.2 million acres, expanding eligible acreage, extending the Farmable Wetlands Program nationwide and permitting managed haying and grazing of CRP land. An interim final CRP rule was published on May 8, 2003, and FSA received 800 comments. The rule expands the “conserving use” definition to allow cropland previously enrolled in CRP that continues to be maintained as though enrolled in CRP to be considered as “conserving use.” The expanded definition allows this land to be eligible for future sign-ups. In addition, the final rule adds certain marginal pasturelands for riparian buffers or similar water quality purposes as eligible land. Several critical software advancements will contribute to better administration of CRP. FSA has developed new Web-based software that will more efficiently rank offers based on environmental benefits and cost, calculate maximum payment rates and provide eligibility determinations. The software incorporates several databases, including soils, Conservation Priority Areas and watersheds, to allow for more precise eligibility, financial, and other determinations in a timely fashion. These enhancements will speed the offer process and require less FSA processing time, resulting in program cost savings. FSA also has developed a CRP Geographic Information System (GIS) tool to be used by county offices to calculate acreage and the maximum soil rental rate for land being offered. FSA has been working to transform all of its farmland maps to a digital or GIS format. This conversion allows for more accurate acreage calculations and for a more precise mapping of soil types. The GIS tool will also reduce many of the manual tracking and calculations done in the county offices and result in more efficient program administration. USDA earlier announced its intention to conduct another general sign-up in early 2004. USDA now plans to issue the details of the next general sign-up in the summer, when agricultural market conditions and demands for resource use of this year’s crop become clearer. More information on CRP is available at local FSA offices and on FSA’s Web site at: www.fsa.usda.gov. New Report Highlights Conservation to Protect Water Quality A new report, Protecting the Source, from the Trust for Public Land and the American Water Works Association explains why watershed conservation is one of the best ways to protect water quality and details on-the-ground strategies for watershed conservation. The report is intended for local governments, water suppliers and agencies, and community drinking water advocates. The 56-page report is available for free download on TPL's Web site at http://www.tpl.org/download_protect_src_report.cfm. Hard copies of the report can be purchased for $15 at http://www.cafeshops.com/tpl_store/305748. Additional information on watershed conservation - including case studies, tools, and resources - can be found at http://www.tpl.org/tier2_pa.cfm?folder_id=1885. Urban Subwatershed Restoration Manual Series Available The Center for Watershed Protection has posted three manuals from the Urban Subwatershed Restoration Manual Series to its website at http://www.cwp.org/USRM_verify.htm. These will be available at no cost for downloads through September 2004. Presented in a series of 11 manuals, the Urban Subwatershed Restoration Manual (USRM) presents practical and useful information on the actual techniques of watershed restoration that can be conveniently accessed and used by planners, engineers, stream biologists and municipal officials. Each manual is profusely illustrated and presents detailed field methods, practice specifications, costs, applicability and tips on implementation. Together, the USRM manuals introduce an integrated framework for urban watershed restoration, outline effective techniques for assessing urban watersheds, and provide a comprehensive review of watershed restoration techniques. Great Basin Riparian Ecosystems: Ecology, Management, and Restoration Established by the USDA Forest Service in 1993, the Great Basin Ecosystem Management Project for Restoring and Maintaining Sustainable Riparian Ecosystems is a large-scale research study that uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine the effects of climate change and human disturbance on riparian areas. The book, Great Basin Riparian Ecosystems, edited by Jeanne C. Chambers and Jerry R. Miller, presents the approach used by the researchers to study and understand riparian areas in the Great Basin region. It summarizes the current state of knowledge about those areas and provides insights into the use of the information generated by the project for the restoration and management of riparian ecosystems. For more information, visit http://www.islandpress.org/books/detail.html?cart=108801573336778&SKU=1-55963-986-5. Version 2.0 of NJ's Landscape Project Available Version 2.0 of New Jersey's Landscape Project that identifies critical habitats throughout the state is now available. Habitat mapping and data can be obtained: - Online via download: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/landscape/download.htm - Online via i-MapNJ: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/gis/depsplash.htm# - On Compact Disc by request to the Division of Fish and Wildlife's Endangered and Nongame Species Program An expanded effort is being made to provide technical training to potential users of the Landscape Project in counties throughout the state. Mercer County College will host training on Friday, July 16 from 10 AM to 12 PM. For information regarding scheduling and registration, please consult http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/ensphome.htm or e-mail patrick.woerner@dep.state.nj.us. |
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