A vocal opponent of building a highway through the Baker Wetlands is asking for a delay that could push a decision about the road project into next year and further into financial limbo.

But the man who will be making the decision says such a delay is unlikely.

A little rain doesn't keep Karen Heeb and her granddaughter, Rachel Heeb, 9, both of Lawrence, from participating in the annual butterfly banding day at the Baker Wetlands. Although the Heebs didn't catch and band a monarch butterfly during Saturday's event, Rachel wasn't discouraged. We

The Wetlands Preservation Organization is asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for more time to review two documents associated with the South Lawrence Trafficway: a draft environmental impact statement, the basis for choosing one of two routes for the road; and the Kansas Department of Transportation’s application for a permit to build the road through the wetlands.

If granted, the documents’ public-comment deadlines would be extended three months beyond the current Sept. 30 deadline and probably would push a decision about which way the road should go if anywhere into the administration of the next Kansas governor, who will take office in January.

KDOT is pushing for a decision by year’s end, so it can sign contracts for spending $15 million to buy land, move dirt and otherwise secure the highway’s path through the wetlands. Given the state’s deepening financial crunch, officials say, the chances of spending the money decrease the longer the issue remains undecided.

Anna Wilson, a Wetlands Preservation Organization spokeswoman and alumna of Haskell Indian Nations University, said Haskell students needed more time to study plans for the highway, which could cut through a natural area considered culturally and spiritually sacred among American Indians.

Having only four printed copies of the draft environmental impact statement on a campus with 900 students wasn’t enough, she said, especially when students need to learn the intricacies of federal regulations and applicable laws.

“We need to take time to educate,” Wilson said.

But Joe Hughes, acting chief of the regulatory branch in the corps’ Kansas City district, said that a delay on such grounds would be unjustified. The corps’ role is not to educate the public, but rather to give people enough time to bring information about the project to the corps’ attention.

The public-comment period regarding the wetlands permit already had been extended by more than two weeks, to Sept. 30, Hughes said. That coincides with the end of the 45-day comment period for the draft environmental impact statement.

Copies of the printed document also are available in area public libraries and at a variety of government offices and with interested organizations, he said. Officials also are mailing out CD-ROM copies of the document by request.

“In general, I wouldn’t anticipate that we would extend the public-comment period, and certainly not by 90 days,” said Hughes, who said he would make a decision about the requests soon. “In general, we don’t believe that it would be justified to extend the comment period for educational purposes.

“The public has essentially had an adequate review and comment time. The period we’ve given … is adequate, but that’s not a final decision.”

Wilson said that the WPO also would ask the corps to order compilation of a supplemental environmental impact statement, which would further study the project’s effects on the wetlands as a traditional cultural property for American Indians.

In recent weeks, corps officials said they hoped to decide which way the road should be built by the end of the year. The corps controls the issue because it regulates wetlands, and either route for the trafficway would cut through such environmentally sensitive areas.

¢ 6News video report: Wetlands Preservation Organization asking for more timeMore on the SLT:¢ slt.ljworld.com

The two alternatives deemed “preferred” by the corps:

l A 32nd Street alignment, through the north end of the Baker Wetlands, at a cost of $105 million.

l A 42nd Street alignment, running south of the Wakarusa River and through a smaller area of wetlands, at a cost of $128.5 million.

Col. Donald R. Curtis Jr., the corps’ district engineer, said he would make a decision about the routes after reviewing relevant facts and taking into consideration public comments submitted by Sept. 30. He conducted a public hearing in Lawrence last week, where many of the more than 700 people offered opinions, either in writing or at one of two microphones.

After the hearing, which closed just before 2 a.m. Friday, Curtis said the comments would help in his deliberations.

“When you receive written comments, so often you don’t hear the context the community context of both sides,” he said. “You get context for the letters. You get context for the e-mails. You see that.

“It’s important to get a sense of the level of passion on each side. That came in loud and clear tonight.”

As for the timing of his decision, Curtis said, “We’re not on anybody’s political timeline. If the two match, so be it.”