2015 Conference

Full Presentation Panel

Joseph V. Siry, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Rollins College, Winter Park, Fla. 32789

Abstract

Long regarded as a valuable source of fish and reeds or even paper resources, the recent modern treatment of wetlands as wastelands makes them a frontier at the boundaries of rising seas and crowded shoreline development. With nearly half the world's people living in the coastal zone current wetland restoration projects can draw upon the significant and productive roles that these water logged areas have always played in ancient civilizations. With the loss of one hundred thousand people in Myanmar and the failure of levees in New Orleans after cyclones and hurricanes the role played by estuarine wetlands – as displayed in mangrove-protected shores after the Indian Ocean tsunami – have become better understood as ecotones that act as bulwarks against rising sea levels. Once considered wastelands by conservationists, these treasures were revealed by ecologist Eugene Odum among the most productive ecological systems per hectare of net primary productivity on earth. In these borderlands of freshwater and marine waters we are rediscovering multiple values that ancient civilization understood just as these boundaries between rising seas and extraordinarily expensive property around the world are threatened by abrupt climate change.

Kristen Van Hooreweghe, Ph.D. SUNY, Potsdam

Hurricane Sandy had devastating consequences for the Jamaica Bay area, including significant property damage.  The presentation asks significant related questions revealing the public comprehension of the many conflicting values inherent in coastal resources. By exploring impacts on this critically important bay of the storm the paper raises questions of environmental justice with regard to public lands in the coastal zone. For example, how have residents’ ideas about place been altered in the context of the storm?  How have their place attachments influenced decisions to rebuild and remain in place, despite concerns about increased storms and rising sea levels?  Have their concerns or understandings of climate change shifted at all? How do residents view the city’s response to the storm and their efforts at climate change adaptation? How does climate change impact issues of environmental justice and environmental privilege in Jamaica Bay?

Dr. Amy Knisley, Which Waters Is Waters? An Epistemological Face-Off Between Science and the Law

A 2006 Supreme Court decision left it unclear how a wetland counts as “waters” protected under the Clean Water Act (CWA). One test, grounded in legal epistemology, requires a “continuous surface connection” between wetlands and navigable waters. The other, blending legal and ecological reasoning, requires a “significant nexus.” On the theory that science ought to tip the balance, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers commissioned a major study of stream connectivity to guide finalization of new CWA wetlands rules. The report indicated, unsurprisingly, that there is extensive hydrologic connectivity between wetlands and the surface waters the CWA is designed to protect. The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers published both the report and a proposed rule—to enact the “significant nexus” test—in 2014. The report and the draft rule were instant objects of high-level controversy, and the rule remains unfinalized. In this case, implacable legal analysis drove the science of hydrologic connectivity to the margins of what is arguably an empirical question: when is wetlands waters? Can the empirical, community-driven nature of scientific knowledge development be harmonized with the accretionary, precedent-driven knowledge set of the law?

Amber L. Pitt, PhD, Wildlife ecology and the Clean Water Act: Amphibian movements and habitat use indicate biological connectivity among water bodies.

Small, isolated wetlands (i.e., ephemeral wetlands, vernal pools) are important for maintaining biodiversity and aquatic resources, yet they are increasingly imperiled and their regulation and protection have been complicated by ambiguity in policy interpretation. Recent reinterpretation of the Clean Water Act as a result of U.S. Supreme Court decisions suggests that isolated wetlands may be considered jurisdictional if a significant nexus, as indicated by biological and/or hydrological connectivity, exists among isolated wetlands and traditional navigable waters (e.g., streams, lakes). Determination of a significant nexus based on biological connectivity may be considered if it can be established through defensible and repeatable protocols. Radio-telemetry is a relatively accessible method for tracking small wildlife species and it can provide detailed information regarding the movement among and use of various habitats within a landscape. We sought to 1) examine movements and habitat use of anurans (i.e., frogs and toads) among landscapes with diverse aquatic resources and 2) evaluate the efficacy of using radio-telemetry to assess biological connectivity. We used radio-telemetry to track three anuran species in two index landscapes with a variety of water bodies. Anurans moved among isolated wetlands and traditional navigable water bodies, suggesting biological connectivity among these features. If policy makers consider such connectivity indicative of a significant nexus, it may follow that at least some isolated wetlands be considered jurisdictional wetlands for regulation under the Clean Water Act. Our results also indicate that radio-telemetry may be an effective tool for assessing biological connectivity among water bodies. As aquatic resources and biodiversity are increasingly imperiled, the regulation of isolated wetlands under the Clean Water Act may provide a powerful tool for protecting these habitats and the species that depend on them that are not currently protected under policies targeting endangered species (e.g., Endangered Species Act).