White House wetlands decision perplexes

Wetlands are now safe. Wetlands are still vulnerable.

Kansas environmentalists had mixed reactions Thursday upon hearing that the Bush administration had dropped efforts to lift federal protections for wetlands and other streams.

“That’s a good move,” said Tim Christian of the Kansas Alliance for Wetlands and Streams. “It’s going to continue to benefit the citizens of Kansas to continue to protect those wetland areas, let them function and do what they need to do.”

But Dan Ward of the Kansas Wildlife Federation said the administration left a directive in place that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must consult closely with superiors in Washington, D.C., when making wetlands-related decisions.

“It seems to me we neither have a clear victory nor a clear loss,” Ward said.

Mitchell Frazier, a spokesman for the Corps of Engineers in Kansas City, Mo., said the directive applied only when there was confusion related to wetlands issues.

“The corps and EPA are still committed to a ‘no net loss’ policy for wetlands,” Frazier said. “That’s most important.”

In January, the two agencies announced they were considering proposing a rule that would redefine which streams, lakes and wetlands would be protected by the Clean Water Act.

A copy of the revisions, made public last month, showed administration officials were considering changes to strip “isolated” wetlands and streams of federal protection, opening them to being filled for commercial development.

Officials have said Kansas had 435,400 acres of wetlands, a “big chunk” of which would have lost protection under the rule changes. The Baker Wetlands south of Lawrence would have remained under federal protection, however — meaning the state would have remained obligated to build new wetlands to replace those destroyed by construction of a proposed 32nd Street route for the South Lawrence Trafficway.

Officials estimated that up to 20 million acres of wetlands, or 20 percent of the wetlands outside Alaska, would have lost protection under the proposed rule. The EPA received 133,000 comments on its proposed rule, most of them urging the administration not go forward.

Environmentalists and biologists say wetlands are prime habitat for water fowl and many other species. They also act as a natural filter for the streams and lakes that provide drinking water.

— Staff writer Joel Mathis can be reached

at 832-7126.