Category: Public Comment Opportunity | Accent on Natural Landscaping Inc

Wisconsin Conservation Congress 2018

April 4, 2018

Reference my earlier post on this year’s Wisconsin Conservation Congress question about neonics. Besides that question, there are several more on which you might be interested in submitting comments. Participating in this citizen advisory opportunity is especially important these days in light of the current political climate.

The questionnaire is filled with the usual questions about fishing, hunting and trapping, but it also contains these:

Question 16: Do you support a $5 annual fee for all users between the ages of 16 and 64 of state fishery, wildlife, natural areas and leased public hunting grounds and dedicating the funds to directly support fish and wildlife habitat management and infrastructure on these properties.

Question 19: Should we encourage legislators and WDNR to support science and market based legislation and rules to reduce the risk of global warming and increase the use of renewable energy resources.

Question 20: Do you support water basin management plans to reduce and control run of as partial mitigation for damage.

Question 33: Do you support requiring all students under the age of 15 to have a minimum of one field day of hands-on experience in hunter, bowhunter, ATV and boater safety classes in order to become certified.

Question 43: Do you support establishing new rules designating the entire karstic areas of Wisconsin, both dolomite and calcareous bedrock areas, as sensitive areas meriting special groundwater protection by the State and freeing municipal governments to make additional rules and regulations based on local geological consideration.

Question 44: Do you support conducting hydrogeological surveys in counties where none have yet been done.

Questions 49-52: Should the State require non-motorized watercraft to be registered, but exempt hunters, trappers and fishers who already pay a fee, and create a separate rate for organizations with multiple watercraft.

For background on each question, go to the Wisconsin Conservation Congress Hearings Questionnaire

If you have any concerns about these questions, please plan to attend the Hearings or send your comments to the WDNR.

Hearings Locations

The hearings will be held in each county of Wisconsin on April 9, 2018 at 7:00PM. Everyone attending has a chance to speak on behalf of any of the questions — pro or con. Everyone attending has the opportunity to cast their vote — yes or no — on each question. These citizen advisory ballots are then presented to the Natural Resources Board (NRB) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Where to Send Comments

If you are not able to attend the hearings personally, your comments should be submitted to the Wisconsin DNR no later than April 9, 2018. Send your comments to:

•Fisheries Rule Coordinator, Scott Loomans, 101 South Webster St. PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921, (608) 266-5206, scott.loomans@wisconsin.gov

•Wildlife Rule Coordinator, Scott Karel, 101 South Webster St., PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921, (608) 267-2452, scottr.karel@wisconsin.gov

These citizen advisory ballots are then presented to the Natural Resources Board (NRB) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Wisconsin Conservation Congress Spring Hearings – Neonics

March 28, 2018

2018 Wisconsin Conservation Congress Spring Hearings flyer. (WDNR)

Each second Monday of April, the Wisconsin Conservation Congress holds their spring hearings. There are 54 questions this year concerning a myriad of conservation issues. One of great importance to natural landscaping enthusiasts is advisory question 45 on the use of neonicotinoids:

“Should the Conservation Congress work with the DNR, NRB and Wisconsin Legislature to take up the ‘Saving Wisconsin Pollinators Act,’ and include specific language to ban the use of neonicotinoid insecticides (dinotefuran, clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam) regardless of application method on all state owned agricultural and forest lands, and establish limited use guidelines for continued use on commercial and private agricultural lands? Yes or No?”

“The question relates to banning the use of neonicotinoid insecticides (neonics) on state owned agriculture and forest land. “Neonicotinoids are a widely used class of insecticides. They are neurotoxins that are present throughout all parts of the plant once applied, including the leaves, pollen, and nectar. They can also contaminate water resources and soils as well. Studies show that pollinators are endangered through acute poisonings by coming into contact with these toxins. It has been widely reported that we are currently experiencing a large loss of pollinators.”

Doug Tallamy says a Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) pair brings 390-570 caterpillars to their young per day for 16 days. Photo by Doug Tallamy.

In essence, although neonics are effective against a variety of insect pests, they also kill non-target insects such as pollinators, and can have an equally unhealthy indirect effect on birds, bats and other insect-eating wildlife in the chain of life.

Wisconsin Conservation Hearings

If you are not able to attend the hearings personally, your comments should be submitted to the Wisconsin DNR no later than April 9, 2018. Send your comments to:

•Fisheries Rule Coordinator, Scott Loomans, 101 South Webster St. PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921, (608) 266-5206, scott.loomans@wisconsin.gov

•Wildlife Rule Coordinator, Scott Karel, 101 South Webster St., PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921, (608) 267-2452, scottr.karel@wisconsin.gov

Please send your comments to the WDNR. Let’s get the use of neonics under control here in Wisconsin.

Hearings Questionnaire

Hearings Locations

Background on Neonic Insecticides by Wisconsin Society for Ornithology

Thank you Diane Hilscher for bringing this very important question for the spring hearings to my attention.

Native Plant Demonstration Site Survey

February 9, 2018

Reference my earlier post entitled Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA) and the reference to one of their strategies called the National Seed Strategy. Another of their strategies is developing the Native Plant Demonstration Site Network. Paraphrased below with permission of the PCA is a brief announcement about a survey in which you can share information about native plant demonstration sites with which you may be working.

Native Plant Demonstration Site Network: Survey

To achieve objectives of the National Seed Strategy, the Non-Federal Cooperator Committee is inviting you to fill out a survey to share details about the demonstration of native plants at organization with which you are working. By filling out this survey, you are helping to connect land managers by facilitating the sharing of best practice methods for the conversion of land into native displays. The network will also be used to educate the public on the need for native plant materials and where their use can be demonstrated.

Native Plant Demonstration Site Network: Survey

The Grand Canyon & the Antiquities Act

January 12, 2018

Let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is. You cannot improve on it. But what you can do is keep it for your children, your children’s children, and all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American should see.— Theodore Roosevelt

With these words, President Roosevelt designated the Grand Canyon as a national monument on January 11, 1908 through the Antiquities Act. Later on February 26, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Grand Canyon National Park Act.

Meadow on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park.

Today millions of people annually tour some of the over one million acres that make up this National Park located in Arizona. I wonder how many know the Grand Canyon has more than 1500 species of vascular plants (trees, shrubs, forbs, grasses, etc) as well as hundreds of non-vascular plants (fungi, mosses and lichen). Or that there are 63 plants found in the park that have special status by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Or that there are a dozen endemic plants (plants found only in the park).

The Antiquities Act

The Antiquities Act was signed into law on June 8, 1906 by President Roosevelt. A bi-partisan bill, it was enacted in an attempt to prevent looting, desecration and destruction of Native American sites and other unique and treasured places. Either the President or Congress can protect America’s wildlands and historical sites, including marine areas as national monuments.

A Republican by party, Teddy was the first president to declare a national monument under the Antiquities Act on September 24, 1906. That was the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.

Sixteen presidents have used the Antiquities Act to designate 157 national monuments to-date. Of these, President Barack Obama designated the most national monuments at 25, followed by Bill Clinton at 19, and Theodore Roosevelt at 18.

Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments Reduced in Size

Two of the wildlands designated by Presidents Obama and Clinton as National Monuments were Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. Trump has reduced the size of these two Utah monuments substantially which is the first time a president has attempted to undo any monument established by a previous president, and there is no provision for such an action in federal law. Conservationists fear Trump’s goal is to open these public areas to oil and gas extraction, mining, logging, ranching and other commercial activities without consideration for the consequences to the environment. They also fear the precedent this could set for future designation (or dissolution) of national monuments.

Consequently a number of lawsuits by a number of Indian tribes, conservation and historic preservation organizations, scientists and outdoor industry and recreationists have been filed against the Trump administration because their actions allegedly violate the Antiquities Act and are unconstitutional.

What to do?

Regardless of the lawsuits, Congress can rescind Trump’s proclamations and restore the entire Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. If you wish to express your concerns one way or another, communicate with your representatives and senators. Go to House.gov and Senate.gov to find their contact information.

Bears Ears National Monument Modification Proclamation

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Modification Proclamation

For more information read the Grand Canyon News and Timeline: The battle over two of Utah’s national monuments by Deseret News-Utah.