U.S. wildlife leaders worry about future during Akron summit

Leaders from national wildlife groups shared concerns about the future of clean water and conservation in the United States during a summit near Akron this past weekend.

"This is a place where agricultural producers, conservationists and water quality advocates come together for a common program," Jim Martin said of the gathering.

Martin is conservation director for the Berkley Conservation Institute and Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership board chairman.

Joining Martin at the Hole N' the Wall Lodge were national officials from Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Wildlife Management Institute, and Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

Dave Nomsen, vice-president of governmental affairs for Pheasants Forever, said the group meets periodically to discuss issues and how they will be addressed.

"It helps us network in Washington so we're more effective than individual organizations," Nomsen explained.

Nomsen and Howard Vincent, president and CEO of national Pheasants Forever, organized the meeting.

Vincent said he decided to meet at the Hole N' the Wall after an earlier visit there.

It was the first time the group has met in Iowa, a location that Martin said is especially appropriate.

Iowa is the premier state for investing money to improve the quality of lakes by improving watersheds, he explained.

Every dollar spent returns $10 to the economy, Martin said. It also saves the need to invest in future cleanup.

Not all states are monitoring their smaller streams, a responsibility that used to belong to federal officials before a June 2007 Supreme Court decision changed that.

The Rapanos court decision took much of that responsibility from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Legislation passed in 1948 -- and the stronger 1972 Clean Water Act -- gave the Corps authority to police upstream waters to prevent pollution that could travel downstream to larger navigable bodies of water.

"Most people in this country don't even know those protections have been stripped away," Martin said.

A bill called the Clean Water Restoration Act is presently in Congress, but Martin said its future is uncertain.

The present administration supports the bill, he said, but legislators are uncertain how to vote because of lobbying efforts by developers.

"Our watersheds are starting to unravel. It's going to cost a hell of a lot to fix them if we allow this to happen," he stressed.

Water quality is important in Plymouth County, as evidenced by people who came to the Hole N' the Wall Thursday to hear Dan Wrinn, director of public policy for Ducks Unlimited, speak about various wetland programs.

Nomsen said those in attendance seemed to talk more about water quality than about wildlife.

Much of the group's Friday evening discussion centered on the Conservation Reserve Program and the 2012 Farm Bill.

Contracts for millions of acres of CRP ground will expire in the next two years.

The wildlife groups want to see the program's success continue. They will be proposing changes in the next Farm Bill to ensure that happens.

"When the economics of agriculture shift, our conservation programs have to shift with it," Martin said. "We can't be sitting on a conservation program that is 10 years outdated when the reality of agriculture production has shifted so much."

The farm bill is the single best conservation bill in the country, Martin said. Information on what wildlife officials want to see changed in the next farm bill will be included on the Sentinel's agriculture page this Thursday.