Bush administration leaves Minnesota wetlands at risk
by Judy HelgenLately, I've been alarmed about the Bush administration's environmental policies, particularly toward wetlands, because I care deeply about them. In 1993, when I first saw deformed frogs near Granite Falls, I hardly knew what species of frogs we had here. But I had a crash course before school students found horrific numbers of grotesque frogs near Le Sueur two years later. After that, we found deformed frogs all over Minnesota. It looked like Minnesota's wetlands were in deep trouble.
Frogs need wetlands for their very survival; some migrate long distances from large lakes and rivers to reproduce. It's a hazardous journey. During spring in Minnesota, shallow wetlands produce symphonies of amazing calls by frogs and toads, doing their utmost to attract the females. Stand a few minutes in the dark by a pond, and you will hear the spirit of wetland life.
I knew from my work that wetlands suffer from pollution, urban development, highway and farm runoff, harming their ability to support life. Wetlands provide habitat for a wealth of wildlife: ducks, dragonflies, frogs, birds, fish and an amazing diversity of plants. With early melting, small wetlands become rich in invertebrates, providing necessary, life-giving food for reproducing waterfowl and their hatchlings.
I'd known also that wetlands are a very important part of the clean water system. They filter pollution and purify our water, store floodwater and replenish groundwater. And, maintaining healthy wetlands in watersheds helps prevent rivers and lakes from getting on the state's impaired waters list.
When President Bush was in Le Sueur recently, he pledged to enroll 250,000 acres of large wetland complexes nationwide. Considering that he had previously issued a policy directive that leaves up to 20 million acres of existing natural wetlands at risk for destruction, the proposed 250,000 pales in comparison. We need to hang on to what we already have.
Don't be fooled by the lily pads. This urban wetland is highly
degraded. Its water is turbid with silt and loaded with chloride
and other chemicals. It has a very low biological diversity of
invertebrates and wetland plants.
In January 2003, the Bush administration instructed the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers to stop enforcing Clean Water Act protection for as many as 20 million acres of wetlands. Bush's directive removes safeguards for small streams and ponds that appear disconnected from major rivers and lakes. In regions of Minnesota, this policy leaves the majority of wetlands unprotected from dredging, filling and pollution. Even lakes may receive less protection.
The Bush policy takes us backward, reversing 30 years of progress in cleaning up our lakes, rivers and coastal waters under the Clean Water Act. It allows developers to fill vulnerable wetlands and small streams without regard for impacts to water quality. Mining companies, industrial polluters, factory farms and municipal sewage treatment plants may no longer need permits to dump waste into small, unprotected streams and wetlands.
This means dirtier water downstream, more flooding and fewer recreational opportunities for hunters and anglers who depend on clean water. And even the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, guardians of the state's water quality, is now routinely waiving federal permits for dredging and filling in wetlands, saying that developers must "self determine" whether they are meeting state water quality standards. It's a slippery slope, and the future for frogs and the integrity of our water resources are in question, unless we do something to prevent it.
When the Bush administration tried to adopt a permanent rule to cut wetlands out of the Clean Water Act, a strong backlash followed. States, including Minnesota, sportsmen, conservationists and a bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives joined forces and successfully pressured the administration to halt its attempts to change long-standing clean water protections. However, the ill-conceived policy directive remains in place. State agencies in Minnesota opposed the directive because it could leave some two million acres of its wetlands at risk from pollution and development. While the policy directive is not law, the EPA and the Army Corp of Engineers effectively have orders from the Bush administration to follow it. It needs to be rescinded.
Minnesota deserves more than hollow campaign promises. If the Bush administration really cares about wetlands and clean water, it should immediately withdraw its troubling guidance that tosses wetlands aside and undermines existing protections. Bush should strongly enforce, not weaken, the Clean Water Act.
Helgen, of Roseville, a retired research scientist from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, teaches part time at Metropolitan State University.