Wetlands - Rochester, NY area
RochesterEnvironment.com
Consider how important wetlands are to our local ecology what condition ours are in--including NewsLinks, Resources, and Information for the Rochester, NY area.
Page Contents: Wetlands
NewsLinks |
Wetlands and Climate Change |
Wetlands Discussions|
Government
Wetlands Resources |
Take
Action for our Wetlands
Wetlands
are those land areas that catch rain or snow and drain to specific
marshes, streams, rivers, lakes, or to ground water. Because the
Rochester area has so many wetlands and watershed, this issue is of
special interest to our area.
Wetlands are
integral to our area's environmental health. Get the news and
resources on this topic for the Rochester, NY area. Remember, New
Orleans might have faired better from the Katrina Hurricane if their
wetlands had been intact.
It was once thought that wetlands were Nature's mistake, so foul, disease-ridden, and impossible to navigate that the perfect creator had somehow messed up. But, we now know that our wetlands are our environment's kidneys, filtering out impurities from the water and putting critical nutrients back into the soil. They also provide a habitat for a strategic concentration of plants and animals.
SEARCH: Use search engine below to find anything posted since 1998.
Wetlands and Climate Change
Like all ecologies in our environment, our wetlands are going to be affected by Climate Change. Read some of the studies that connect the dots between Climate Change and Wetlands.
- "There is consensus among the scientific community that
global climate change, occurring in part as a result of
emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from
human activities, will lead to significant impacts across the
U.S. (Wigley 2004). These may include increasing temperatures,
altered rainfall patterns, and sea level rise. The effect of
climate change on wildlife and habitats is expected to be
variable and species specific, with a predicted general trend of
ranges shifting northward and to higher elevations (Shugart et
al. 2003). Nonnative species will likely increase (Walther et
al. 2002). Within the Great Lakes region, substantial changes
are anticipated, and according to a regional report on projected
climate change and impacts, by 2025, spring and summer
temperatures in the Great Lakes region are likely to be 3 to 4
°F above current averages (Kling et al. 2003). The amount and
seasonal distribution of precipitation is expected to be altered
as well; precipitation is
expected
to increase between 10 and 20 percent, with winter and spring
rain increasing and summer rain decreasing by up to 50 percent.
These changes in precipitation may result in more frequent
floods and droughts. Uncertainty about the future effects of
climate change requires refuge managers to use adaptive
management (e.g., adjusting regulations, shifts in active
habitat management, or changing management objectives) to
maintain healthy ecosystems in light of unpredictability (Inkley
et al. 2004). Refuge managers can plan and respond to changing
climate conditions. Options include managing for diverse and
extreme weather conditions (e.g., drought and flood);
maintaining healthy, connected, genetically diverse wildlife
populations; and (where applicable) protecting coastal wetlands
to accommodate sea level rise (see Inkley et al. 2004 for more
recommendations). " [Page 2-13]
Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge Draft Comprehensive
Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment May 2012 – US
Fish and Wildlife Service.
Wetland Discussions
Join in discussions about wetlands in the Rochester, NY area
- Nature’s Kidneys Though we tend not to consider our wetlands until they get in the way of a development project, they play a unique ecological role. They are like our kidneys, a filtration organ cleansing our environment. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), using more rigorous language, defines wetlands as "those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas." Wetlands | US EPA Given such a critical role, you’d think we’d be more careful with our wetlands. Au contraire: “In the 1600s, over 220 million acres of wetlands are thought to have existed in the lower 48 states. Since then, extensive losses have occurred, and over half our original wetlands have been drained and converted to other uses. Between the 1950s and 1970s an estimated 58,500 acres of wetlands were lost” (EPA 1995). more...
- Manmade planet One of the great assumptions being made by those in power is that when we bump up against environmental problems, our best and brightest will up and fix them. Well, it’s not that easy. Seems like we really haven’t done our homework. Here’s an interesting insight as to how it tends to go when we think we can micromanage a three billion year old biological system that we barely understand. WATCHING ARTIFICIAL WETLANDS "Natural wetlands that are developed are supposed to be replaced by man-made wetlands somewhere else. But a new study is finding that most of those man-made wetlands aren't doing very well." (Oct. 22, 07) Environment Report more...
Government Wetland Resources
- Wetlands | US EPA For regulatory purposes under the Clean Water Act, the term wetlands means "those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that undernormal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typicallyadapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally includeswamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas."
- Wetlands of the Northeast: Results of the National Wetlands Inventory "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) in the mid-1970s to map the nation’s wetlands and deepwater habitats. Since then, the NWI has completed at least one phase of mapping for all northeastern states, except New York where roughly three-quarters of the state has been inventoried. For most areas, NWI maps have been converted to digital geospatial data which facilitates generation of acreage summaries of the NWI findings. State reports have been published for several states (Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland) and acreage summaries published for most other northeastern states. Since these reports were published, NWI data have been updated for many areas. This report summarizes current NWI data (as of September 2090) for each state from Maine through Virginia and the District of Columbia. " April 2010 Northeast Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- National Wetlands Inventory In the mid-1970s, the National Wetlands Inventory program was established to inventory the nation''s wetlands and report on their status. The program produces wetland maps and periodically updates these maps and accompanying digital data. The program also evaluates and reports on changes in wetland status (wetland trends) to inform the American public on how wetlands are changing in response to natural processes (e.g., sea level rise, fire, and mudslides) and to human development (e.g., agriculture, urban and suburban development, impoundment, dredging, channelization and ditching).
American
Wetlands Month | Wetlands | US EPA This May will mark the 19th
anniversary of American Wetlands Month, a time when EPA and its
partners in federal, state, tribal, local, non-profit, and private
sector organizations celebrate the vital importance of wetlands to
the Nation's ecological, economic, and social health. It is also a
great opportunity to discover and teach others about the important
role that wetlands play in our environment and the significant
benefits they provide - improved water quality, increased water
storage and supply, reduced flood and storm surge risk, and critical
habitat for plants, fish, and wildlife.
Take Action for Wetlands
What you can do to help keep Rochester-area wetlands clean and healthy.
- ADOPT-A-STREAM Water pollution affects us all. Although there are no easy remedies, correcting water pollution depends on a future generation of informed, concerned citizens. Adopt-A-Stream is an interdisciplinary program which gives classroom learning a real-life application, enhances students' problem-solving capabilities, and can provide community recognition of the students efforts. --Delta Laboratories, Inc., 1820 East Ave, Rochester , NY 14610, (716) 242-2400
- Join the Rochester Sierra club wetland committee Wetlands Committee Our purpose is to advocate for the preservation of local wetlands threatened by human development while educating committee members with respect to wetlands--how to identify them, how they function, what are their values to plant and animals, including humans. --Rochester Regional Group Sierra Club | Sierra Club
- Welcome to the New York State Wetlands Forum, Inc.! The New York State Wetlands Forum, Inc. is a non-advocacy organization comprised of individuals and groups with diverse backgrounds, interests and viewpoints regarding wetlands and their science, use, and management. Incorporated in 1994, the Forum is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
- 10/06/2011: EPA Launches New Website to Protect Wetlands; Urges Public to Report Any Violations of the Law (New York, N.Y.) From helping control floods to serving as natural buffers against water pollution to providing recreational opportunities and habitat for fish and wildlife, wetlands offer benefits almost too numerous to count. Members of the public can help the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency protect these vital areas by reporting suspected violations of the federal laws that protect wetlands in New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the areas that comprise EPA Region 2. Violations can now be easily reported on EPA’s website at http://www.epa.gov/region02/water/wetlands/violations.html. (October 10, 2011) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases
What is World Wetlands Day? 2 February each year is World Wetlands Day. It marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
WWD was celebrated for the first time in 1997 and made an encouraging beginning.
Each year, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and groups of citizens at all levels of the community have taken advantage of the opportunity to undertake actions aimed at raising public awareness of wetland values and benefits in general and the Ramsar Convention in particular --Ramsar Convention - World Wetlands Day