Bush Admin. Classifies Golf Traps, Man-Made Ponds As “Wetlands”...

[CatWoman]

The Bush Administration announced last week that the nation is no longer losing wetlands--as long as you consider golf course water hazards to be wetlands.

Really.

Thursday (March 30), Interior Secretary Gale Norton called a press conference to claim our long nightmare of wetlands loss had finally come to an end due to unprecedented gains since 1997 (click hear to read the report she cites). However, she then admitted much of that gain has been in artificially created ponds, such as golf course water hazards and farm impoundments.

The sporting community--from Ducks Unlimited to the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership--reacted quickly, and not favorably. Researchers long ago established that natural wetlands such as marshes, swamps and prairie potholes are far more productive than even the best-designed artificial wetlands. And sharp-edged water bodies like water hazards, farm ponds, and even reservoirs offer very little for wildlife. Putting man-made ponds in the same class as natural wetlands is like ranking pen-raised quail with wild coveys.

The boldness of Norton's claim was particularly galling given the Bush Administration's record on wetlands. President Bush, like other presidents before him, promised a policy of “no net loss” of wetlands, but his administration has consistently supported rollbacks of the Clean Water Act to satisfy industry and development.

http://www.fieldandstream.com/fieldstream/columnists/conservation/article/0,13199,1179434,00.html#

[Norquist Nemesis]

1. Not surprising at all! Creative statistics

Just like making bugers flippers manufacturing employees.

[Maraya1969]

2. If it weren't so sad it would be funny

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

3. They must laugh SO HARD, among themselves, when they write this stuff.

[MADem]

4. Yeah, let's see how much crap from groundskeeping runs off into those

so-called wetlands.

E-friken-gregious!!!!

[CatWoman]

8. hey you!! get off my wetlands!!

[Marr]

5. And ketchup is a vegetable. And burger flipping is a manufacturing job.

[saigon68]

7. good minds think alike

posted at the same time

[Marr]

21. Haha :D

[saigon68]

6. I belong to DU

Sorry to those Firearms banners.

This statement is like the repukes deciding Ketchup is a fruit or a vegetable

ignorant idiots

[dipsydoodle]

9. Should visit the UK if you like wetlands

we've got them here there and every where including one in London.
See : http://www.wwt.org.uk/visit/wetlandcentre/

I obviously appreciate your concern and that for you to match over your side you'd need many thousands of them. And yes - it's farcical to include water hazards whatever on gold courses.

ps like your cats.

[Roland99]

10. Wow...just....wow.

Hey! What about koi ponds?

[formercia]

19. at what point

does it rate as a mosquito breeding ground?

[Roland99]

22. Well, this admin will likely classify mosquitoes as an endangered species.

Then old tire dumps can be classified as wetlands, too.

[formercia]

26. With all the play on TV about Malaria returning to the US....

Fearless Leader will probably order all wetlands filled in to prevent them becoming mosquito breeding grounds.

[mfeher71]

11. Then I'm in trouble!

I'm a "wetlands invader" for half my game is spent searching for my ball!

[newyawker99]

15. Hi mfeher71!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Inland]

12. Man made water is NET LOSS. All the water does

in a man made lake is kill whatever plant life would have grown on the dry ground, because water plants won't (or are prevented from) growing, the plants around the edge are mowed, and most animal life won't touch it. It's a step better than concrete, but you can't say much else.

Aside from canadian geese. They LOVE the corporate office park pond.

[Hobarticus]

13. You know, one really has to work hard to lie this hard

Who says these guys are incompetent? They know exactly what the hell they are doing.

[Historic NY]

14. Its just a ploy to develop land............

the fight over this has been going on for years. Big corporate land developers have been pushing this as a way around fresh water wetland preservation. The premise is when they destroy one that creating new ones such as examples given, would make up for the losses. Well, it also has been pretty much shown that new artificially create wetlands are not effective as the "real McCoy". In most cases artificial wetlands become stagnant pool of water that offers no shelter or place for wetland "life". I've been involved in a few of these fights in my locality. I've taken to using terms such as destroying God's plan for wildlife, upsetting natural balance, disturbing earths filter, etc....when talking about them. The US Dept of Interior under Bush has setback many of our natural policies to preserve & protect our resources. We may never recover from the damage done during his term.

[izzybeans]

16. "Welcome to the National Wildlife Themepark!

Over by the wave pool we have a cage filled with monkeys. Aren't they cute."

[tularetom]

17. Hey wait a goddamn minute

Why is Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton announcing ANYTHING? In fact why is she even the Secretary of the Interior? Didn't she quietly resign about a month ago amid speculation of involvement in some Abramoff clusterfuck?

[Roland99]

23. Maybe she's staying until Kempthorne is confirmed.

Any word on that?

[yellowcanine]

18. I wonder if the flooded sections of New Orleans were included?

[RaleighNCDUer]

20. What about plastic kiddie wading pools?

Would this include them as seasonal wetlands?

They're wet. They're seasonal.

Reckon so.

[The Backlash Cometh]

24. Why would this surprise anyone?

Don't you know that the property rights nutcase lawyers in Florida have been trying to wiggle out of the wetland requirement by identifying retention ponds as wetlands? Also, they call wetlands AND retention ponds as recreational land?

Wake up guys, you're all way behind on this one and Bush is way ahead.

[madokie]

25. So now I must let the ducks have our pool, or at least wait until hunting

season to clear them out. damn sam :rofl:
something tells me you are serious though.
all those government farm ponds I built years ago are actually wetlands, who woulda' thunk it. not I

[Canuckistanian]

27. A little dig at Cheney here:

Putting man-made ponds in the same class as natural wetlands is like ranking pen-raised quail with wild coveys.

:rofl:

[warrens]

28. Field and Stream

That's going to REALLY PISS OFF a lot of former Bush voters.

[nashville_brook]

29. and ketchup is a vegetable. mmm. ketchup.