Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News The Newsletter of the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund Volume 9, Number 6 • November-December 2001

Wisconsin Update

Whooping Cranes in Wisconsin…Sort Of!

This past summer 10 young “isolation-raised” whooping cranes were brought to the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Central Wisconsin to serve as the seed stock for a migratory whooper population. Once they were old enough, the birds were taught to fly by pilots flying ultralight aircraft, the same ultralights that led six of them on an epic migratory flight to Florida this fall. Seven cranes reached their wintering grounds at the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, 65 miles north of St. Petersburg (the 7th crane was transported by vehicle) on December 3, 2001. We wish the cranes a restful winter, and we look forward to their (hopeful) return to Wisconsin in the spring. It is hoped that eventually 50 pairs of whoopers will be re-established in Wisconsin.

For more information on this historic program, visit any of the following websites:

www.savingcranes.org
www.fws.gov
www.dnr.state.wi.us
www.bringbackthecranes.org
www.operationmigration.org

Legislators Ignore Wetland Fill Lawsuit Victory

In the last issue of the “Habitat News” (Vol. 9, No. 5) we reported on an important legal victory in the state of Wisconsin that stopped the illegal filling of almost fifteen acres of floodplain wetland by Ashley Furniture Company in the City of Arcadia. The lawsuit, filed by five statewide environmental organizations, took two years and many thousands of dollars to win. In an act of arrogance and defiance, the company has successfully coaxed key legislators to introduce separate bills into both the State Assembly (AB 580) and the State Senate (SB 290) that would allow them exemptions from state law to undertake their fill activities. The Assembly recently passed AB 580, and the Senate will hold a hearing and likely vote on SB 290 in January, 2002. There are rumblings that this bill may pass the Senate as well.

If this bill becomes law, this essentially suggests that if one has enough money and political influence, one can buy oneself favors from the State Legislature. This would set a terrible precedent that would open the door for a flood of special favor legislation. We have an indication from our attorney that this law would violate the public trust by impacting the state’s waters and might merit yet another lawsuit. We’ll keep you posted.

Wetland Mitigation Rules Nearing Completion

A recent hearing and decision by a joint committee of the State Legislature cleared the way for the state’s new mitigation law (2000) to go into effect soon. Wisconsin is one of the last states in the region to allow mitigation for permitted wetland destruction. The state has tried to learn from the errors of other states in formulating the rules that accompany the law. Salient features of the rules include:

• Mitigation is not acceptable for a fill project until the applicant demonstrates that he/she has successfully avoided and minimized wetland impacts. Mitigation can be offered only at the point when it appears that a fill project will be permitted.
• A base ratio of 1.5 restored acres is required for every acre of fill. Restoration is significantly favored over enhancement or “creation” projects. Ratios will increase for enhancement and creation projects.
• The mitigation must be accomplished within the watershed, or within the county, or a 20-mile radius of the project. If it is found that mitigation cannot be accomplished in the impact area, the developer may select to pay for credits through any local mitigation bank, or through one of two recognized statewide mitigation banks.
• The statewide mitigation banks are obligated to facilitate a lesser degree of wetland restoration close to the impact area, thereby keeping the mitigation as close to the filled site as possible.

The new rules may be hard to implement, since the five staff persons requested by the Department of Natural resources were reduced to 2.5 staff by the Legislature, and the Governor has recently placed a freeze on all state hiring.

Charlie Luthin
Wisconsin Wetlands Association
Serving as Hub for Wisconsin
222 S. Hamilton Street-Suite 1
Madison, WI 53703
(608)-250-9971
(608)-256-4562 (fax)
E-mail: Charlie@wiscwetlands.org
Website: wiscwetlands.org

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