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Yahara Lakes Conference
October 10, 2008
Online Registration
Wisconsin Lakes Convention
KI Convention Center, Green Bay
March 18-20, 2009
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| Public comments on DNR Invasive Species Classification rule (NR 40) due September 5th |
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The Invasive species classification rule (NR 40) is needed to establish the framework for a statewide invasive species control program.
Overall, WAL is pleased with many provisions contained in proposed NR 40 including:
- The establishment of Prohibited and Restricted categories and associated lists of invasive species regulated under the rule
- Clear criterion for determining whether a non-native species should be classified as an invasive species under the rule.
- Requiring measures to prevent the introduction, transference, and transport of invasive species classified as Prohibited and Restricted.
However WAL has found some gaps within the current draft
Additional prevention requirements for Prohibited and Restricted species
The current rule does not address the transfer of sediment or water from lake to lake (or other waterbodies). Transfer or water or sediment between lakes are common pathways of invasion for invasive species --like zebra mussels, spiny water fleas, and pathogens like VHS. WAL suggests the rule be revised to ban the transfer of plants, animals, water, and sediments between waterbodies, with some reasonable exceptions (such as fire suppression and permitted exceptions).
Mechanism within NR 40 to incorporate increasing or new invasive threats
As drafted, it appears a formal rule revision to NR 40 or alternatively, passage of emergency rules on a species by species basis (with formal rule revisions to follow) would be required to include additional invasive species that meet the criterion outlined in the rule, or move a classified species from one classification to another, or move Caution list species into a classification. WAL is concerned that the apparent lack of a mechanism within the rule to trigger inclusion of new or existing invasives that need more intense management would result in potentially significant delays between when a non-native species is identified as a threat and when that species is formally regulated under NR 40.
Submitting comments
Written comments will be accepted until September 5, 2008, and can be submitted to DNR by e-mailing DNRNR40Comments@wisconsin.gov or mailing to NR 40 Comments, Endangered Resources-6, DNR, Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921.
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| Efforts by boaters, anglers appear to have contained VHS in 2008 |
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Testing results of wild fish from 67 waters across the state indicate that the deadly fish virus—viral hemorrhagic septicemia or VHS—has not spread in Wisconsin.
VHS was first detected in Wisconsin in Lake Winnebago system waters in May 2007 and in Lake Michigan system waters in June 2007. In 2007, there was widespread concern that VHS was already widespread in Wisconsin and that it would spread rapidly.
While the 2008 monitoring results cannot conclude with 100 percent certainty that VHS is not somewhere outside of waters known to have the virus, it is apparently not prevalent. The Department of Natural Resources conducted the 2008 VHS monitoring and is seeking a federal grant to help pay for VHS monitoring next year.
The DNR credits statewide administrative rules for boaters, anglers and people who harvest wild bait, and preventative measures taken by the public for successfully working to contain the disease. Requirements outlined in the rule—which went into effect April 4, 2008—are available online at http://dnr.wi.gov/fish/vhs/vhs_prevent.html.
Taking the following precautions can help stop the spread of invasive species, including VHS:
- Inspect your boat, trailer and equipment and remove visible aquatic plants, animals, and mud.
- Drain water from your boat, motor, bilge, live wells, and bait containers.
- Do not move live fish from one water to another.
- Dispose of leftover bait in the trash, not in the water or on land.
- Buy your minnows from Wisconsin bait dealers or catch your own and use it to fish the water you caught it from.
- Wash your boat and equipment with high pressure or hot water, or let it dry for five days.
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Great Lakes Compact passes U.S. Senate, House poised to follow
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The U.S. Senate unanimously voted to approve the Great Lakes Compact, and the full U.S. House is expected to take up the Compact after the August recess. In late July, president Bush publicly promised to sign the deal.
Seven years in the making, the Compact has been approved by all eight Great Lakes states — Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Ratification of the Compact by Congress is the final step before the regional water agreement will have the force of law.
If approved, the compact would be one of the largest interstate water agreements in the country. Congress has approved at least 41 other interstate water agreements involving 45 states and the District of Columbia.
States in the South and West stressed by years of straining their own water resources and prolonged drought have prompted renewed talks of water diversions to make up for their depleted water resources; some have talked of diverting water from the Great Lakes as a solution for western water woes. Passing the Compact aims to prevent water diversions outside of the Great Lakes Basin.
The Compact bans new or increased water diversions from the lakes, with limited exceptions, establishes scientific standards for guiding decisions about water supplies within the Great Lakes basin, and creates a council made up of the eight Great Lakes states' governors to review water management programs.
When the Compact becomes law, states will begin important work to implement the Compact, such as developing a water conservation plan and creating ways for the states to share information and data.
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Federal ballast water legislation stalled, ban on ocean-going ships in the Great Lakes a possibility
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Federal legislation aimed at regulating ballast water discharges from oceangoing vessels, called salties, has stalled in the Senate. A bill passed the U.S. House, but conservationists worry the bill language may not result in meaningful protections and is too soft on the shipping industry. Legislation to help stem the tide of invasive species washing into the Great Lakes by requiring treatment systems for ballast water has been the subject of debate for years among conservationists, the shipping industry and members of Congress.
Now, Wisconsin’s two senators are threatening to consider an outright ban on overseas ships in the lakes.
A ban would demand zero organism discharges from overseas shippers, something that at the moment is probably impossible with existing ballast treatment technology.Such an order would effectively create a moratorium on overseas ships entering the lakes until treatment technology can catch up.
The relatively tiny number of oceangoing ships that visit the lakes each year where they deposit new invasive species into the lakes can cause an astonishing amount of damage to the lakes and surrounding economy.
An average of fewer than two overseas ships a day arrived in the Great Lakes during the nine ice-free months the St. Lawrence Seaway was open for business last year. But a new invasive species is discovered in the Great Lakes about every six months; more than 185 invasive species are now residents in the Great Lakes. Most recent invasives have arrived in the lakes as stowaways in salties.
The economic toll of these invaders — the cost of pipe-clogging zebra mussels to water-dependent industries alone has been estimated at $1.5 billion—is also staggering. Vanishing fishing opportunities, noxious algae blooms which can limit access to public beaches, and the costs to inland lakes and waters as invasives are transported beyond the border of the Great Lakes, are staggering.
In contrast, the estimated annual economic gain tied to the overseas ships: $55 million.
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Emerald Ash Borer found in Wisconsin
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The emerald ash borer, a destructive metallic green beetle native to Asia, has been found in Washington and Ozaukee Counties.
In 2002, Michigan became the first state to fall victim to the invasive pest, which is suspected to have entered the United States by hitchhiking on a plane from Asia. Wisconsin is the 10th state to be invaded by the beetle.
The ash borer kills ash trees when their larvae, which live under the bark, interrupt the flow of water and nutrients in the vascular system of the trees. Ash trees exhibiting classic signs of emerald ash borer activity will often have dead crowns with much of the rest of the tree missing its leaves.
The insect has killed 40 million trees from Maryland to Missouri in the past six years. Wisconsin is home to 725 million ash trees, including 5 million in the state's urban areas. Ash trees have often been planted in many urban areas as replacements for elms, which were decimated by Dutch elm disease a generation ago.
Firewood is a common carrier that transports emerald ash borers from place to place. State officials have imposed limits on moving firewood onto state properties since 2006 when the insect was discovered in Michigan’s Upper Penninsula. The recent discovery of ash borer has prompted state agriculture authorities to quarantine ash and some other wood products, such as tree trimmings, in Washington, Ozaukee, Sheboygan and Fond du Lac counties.
While there are pesticides that have successfully controlled infestations, experts say there is no foolproof measure to kill the bug.
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Free seminars on Wisconsin's open meetings and open records law offered
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Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen will be hosting five free seminars across the State of Wisconsin to promote public awareness of and compliance with the state’s open meetings and public records law. Compliance outlines on the open meetings law and the public records law are available on the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s website at http://www.doj.state.wi.us.At each seminar, Attorney General Van Hollen will be accompanied by assistant attorneys general who are experts in Wisconsin’s open meetings and public records laws.
The seminars, each scheduled for three hours, will take place in
- Green Bay (September 18),
- Eau Claire (October 10),
- Wausau (October 15),
- Milwaukee (October 28)
- and Madison (October 29).
Each seminar is free and open to the public, though registration is required due to limited seating. Individuals are invited to register at the Wisconsin Department of Justice website (http://www.doj.state.wi.us/).
They may also register by submitting an email to registration@doj.state.wi.us or by calling the Department of Justice at (608) 267-2220. Registrants should provide their name, title, organization or agency, and identify the seminar they wish to attend. Additional information as to event details is available at http://www.doj.state.wi.us.
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Working with you for clean, safe, healthy lakes
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The Wisconsin Association of Lakes is the only statewide organization working exclusively to protect and enhance the quality of Wisconsin's 15,000 lakes.
We represent citizens like you who care about Wisconsin's lakes as a natural resource, and who also recognize the value healthy lakes bring to property values, tourist economies, and overall quality of life.
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