Keynote Speaker

Conserving Vulnerable Wetlands and Watersheds: A portfolio approach

Aram J.K. Calhoun

Department of Wildlife Ecology, Fisheries & Conservation Biology, University of Maine

The regulatory landscape for our Nation’s aquatic resources is shaped by local, state, and federal policies and as such is dynamic and sometimes unpredictable. New approaches to maintaining the integrity of our Nation’s waters will be needed in the face of changing societal needs, political change, and biophysical climate change.

The Clean Water Rule of 2015 attempted to clarify the jurisdictional scope for federally protected waters to reflect the latest scientific understanding of wetland ecosystem function by, among other things, recommending a wetland-landscape approach to evaluating vulnerable wetland (including small wetlands or so-called “isolated wetlands”) functions. A recent Presidential Executive Order has eliminated this Rule making innovative, local approaches to conservation of vulnerable wetlands critical. The Maine Vernal Pool Special Area Management Plan is one such example of this approach and is transferable to management of other natural resources of special concern.

Aram J.K. Calhoun is a Professor of Wetland Ecology in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology at the University of Maine. Her research focuses on forested wetlands and vernal pool ecosystems. She is particularly interested in conservation of natural resources on private lands and collaborative approaches to conserving them. Dr. Calhoun is active in working at all levels of government on wetland policy and conservation issues.

Concurrent Session E. Repairing Maine’s “Open Sewers”: Historical Reflections

* 2 Training Contact Hours are available for this session.

* 2 AICP CM credits are available for this session.

Morning Session

During the 50s and 60’s, several Maine rivers were well known as among the filthiest in the entire nation – which is saying something! Some were spoken of locally, without irony, as “open sewers”. This session highlights a number of important and little-known topics in the history of Maine’s river cleanup from the earliest work on the Clean Water Act by Senator Muskie and his then staffer George Mitchell, and up to several more current events. These stories need to be told.

Session Chair:

Lloyd C. Irland

The Irland Group

Speakers:

8:30am – 8:55am

Ed Muskie, George Mitchell, and the Clean Water Act

Douglas Rooks, Author and Journalist

In a manner rare for federal legislation in any field, Maine’s U.S. senators, Ed Muskie and George Mitchell, wrote and revised the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, both milestones in environmental legislation, and among the most important laws enacted by Congress in the 20th century. This presentation will focus on the impact on Maine rivers, and how Muskie’s path from his pioneering role as governor from 1954-58, and his service in the Senate, from 1958-80, served the interests of both his state, and the nation. As his successor, Mitchell re-tooled and refocused the Clean Water Act in a way that has stood the test of time.

9:00am – 9:25am

Restoration and recovery of the St. Croix River Alewife: “the good of the many outweighing the good of the one”

Theo Willis, Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Tribe

The St. Croix River is an unusual example of a New England river with an industrial past. The low population in the watershed and forested landscape belies the long history of dams, logging and pollution that shaped the river we see now. Native American and colonial history relay that vast quantities of fish were harvested and shipped from the river, however, those species were nearly extirpated from the river in this century. Efforts to restore alewife to the St. Croix have persisted, alternately met with indifference and resistance by stakeholder groups. The latest year 2013 marked a long sought political victory that local Tribes, conservationist groups and federal agencies are attempting to turn into biological gains for the river. This paper will describe the history of the St. Croix River fisheries and the international effort involved in saving and now trying to regrow its anadromous fisheries.

9:30am – 9:55am

Dirigo: True or false for water quality?

Scot McFarlane, Columbia University

Using the Androscoggin River as a case study, this talk considers how efforts to clean Maine rivers compared with the rest of the nation in the middle of the twentieth century. At the same time, Mainers promoted competing ideas about the role of science or the federal government in cleaning their rivers, and they even disagreed about the meaning of the strange smells coming from the Androscoggin.

10:00am – 10:25am

Panel: Topics in Maine River Cleanup History

• Unlikely Allies in Cleaning up the Androscoggin
• Lloyd Irland, The Irland Group
• In the early 1940’s, a “Dream Team” of politicians kicked off the first serious challenge to paper companies polluting the Androscoggin River. This talk introduces these people and asks questions about how and why they did what they did.
• History of Stream Classification in Maine
• David Courtemanch, The Nature Conservancy; Susan Davies, Midwest Biodiversity Institute
• Water classification has provided a legal system to categorize waters in Maine by their quality and uses since the 1950s. While this system has evolved over time, it has been the basis for the inventory and management of our waters. In 1987, the classification system changed to one that not only recognizes the existing quality and uses but can be used to set goals for water quality that has led to an incremental improvement of our waters.
• Maine’s Land and Water Resources Council: A policy instrument that got lost
• Craig Ten Broeck, Environmental Consultant
• Maine’s Land and Water Resources Council provided a much needed forum for coordinated policy development at the cabinet officer level in Maine state government and was instrumental in establishing policy protecting Maine’s rivers, the coast and groundwater resources.

Concurrent Session L. New approaches to integrating wetland conservation into land-use planning

Afternoon session

* 2 AICP CM credits are available for this session.

Conserving wetlands using innovative approaches that foster both economic and ecological vitality through use of new regulatory tools, new partnerships and stakeholder initiatives, models of resilient landscapes, and any other innovative approaches to wetland protection.

Session Co-chairs:

Aram Calhoun

Professor, Wildlife, Fisheries & Conservation Biology and Mitchell Center, UMaine

Elizabeth Hertz

Planning Consultant

Overview:

This session will offer short introductory talks (10-15 mins) by each of the panelists followed by a facilitated discussion of the session topic.

Panelists:

• Alex Mas, The Nature Conservancy
• Kristen Puryear, Maine Natural Areas Program
• Jeremy Bell, The Nature Conservancy
• Jane Ballard, Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve
• Liz Hertz, Planning Consultant
• Aram Calhoun, Wildlife, Fisheries & Conservation Biology, UMaine

The Maine Natural Resources Conservation Program

Alex Mas, The Nature Conservancy

The Maine Natural Resource Conservation Program (MNRCP) awards competitive grants to projects that restore and protect high priority aquatic resources throughout Maine. MNRCP was created to manage the allocation of funds collected through Maine’s In Lieu Fee Compensation Program, a voluntary program that allows entities impacting natural resources, primarily wetlands, to make a payment directly to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection as an alternative to traditional mitigation methods. MNRCP is a potential funding source for a range of preservation and restoration projects throughout Maine. Any Maine conservation organization, land trust, city, town, or public agency may be eligible for a grant from MNRCP.

Integrating Sea Level Rise into Land-use Planning

Kristen Puryear, Maine Natural Areas Program, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

Maine’s tidal marshes provide vital habitat for a variety of animals and plants and important functions including mitigating storm surge, filtering pollutants, and supporting fisheries and recreation. And yet the potential for sea level rise, along with existing coastal development patterns, have made tidal marshes one of the most threatened habitat types in Maine. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is predicting an average sea level rise of between 28 cm and 98 cm by 2100 (IPCC 2013). If conditions are ideal, salt marshes have the ability to “migrate” landward in equilibrium with sea level rise-induced changes in shoreline position (U.S. EPA 1995). Tidal marshes will either be inundated by rising sea level or migrate to new areas where geomorphic conditions permit.

The Maine Natural Areas Program (MNAP) has recently issued new data sets based on the Maine Geological Survey’s sea level rise scenario modeling. MNAP’s Marsh Migration and Coastal Undeveloped Blocks data layers are intended to help inform land management planning to support future tidal marsh migration on multiple scales. These new products highlight currently undeveloped areas where marshes have the potential to expand, and landscapes that can support marsh habitats and valued ecosystem services.

Marsh migration data will be reviewed, and examples of integration or application of these ecological data into decision-making will be shared.

The Maine Coastal Resilience Tool

Jeremy Bell, The Nature Conservancy

Coastal wetlands play a critical role in habitat for wildlife and ecosystem services for people, while also bolstering the natural defenses for our coastal communities in the face of sea level rise and other impacts of climate change. Maine’s coastal communities need tools and assistance to better plan for uncertainty. The Nature Conservancy is working with partners to build a coastal resilience tool for Maine based on a template (www.coastalresilience.org) already in use in more than a dozen places around North America and the Caribbean. When complete, this tool will help stakeholders such as state and local governments, land trusts, and private citizens plan not only for salt marsh conservation in the face of sea level rise, but would help communities plan more effectively around coastal infrastructure security. The presenter will describe this work, as well as planned outreach to help communities create solutions for the future.

Let’s Talk Wetland Benefits – New Approaches to Land-Use Decisions, Using Ecosystem Service Information and NOAA Digital Coast Tools

Jane Ballard, Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve

Already, studies and tools abound that value the benefits of wetland conservation, but the integration into land-use planning is lacking. This presentation explores the disconnects between the availability, need, and use of existing ecosystem service valuation information. Determining what decision-makers need, and can use, is the basis for my NOAA Digital Coast fellowship with the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association.

I will present examples of current findings including identified priority areas of communities and how linkages with wetland benefits can address these priorities in specific land-use decisions. Examples will be provided outlining when and how the valuation information and tools fit into the three components of the decision-making process. Through this I will identify gaps and potential barriers to use, including difficulties with applying the tools at relevant scales.

This will give the audience an idea of what biophysical and economic information is already available and will highlight the applicable tools to better inform and support conservation and coastal management decisions.

The Maine Vernal Pool Special Area Management Plan

Aram Calhoun, Wildlife, Fisheries & Conservation Biology, UMaine

Elizabeth Hertz, Planning Consultant

The Maine Vernal Pool Special Area Management Plan (VP SAMP) was approved for use by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection in September, 2016. This innovative mitigation tool is the outcome of a six-year stakeholder process during which regulators, ecologists, developers, planners, municipalities and land trusts worked together. It represents a unique public/private partnership focused on landscape-scale conservation of vernal pools and the adjacent amphibian post-breeding habitat while also providing benefits for developers, municipalities, land trusts, and local landowners.

The VP SAMP is voluntary mitigation mechanism for impacts to vernal pools that allows a municipality to collect a fee for impacts to vernal pools in designated growth areas in exchange for conservation of vernal pools and surrounding undeveloped areas embedded in the rural landscape. The municipality transfers the fee to a land conservation organization who undertakes the conservation of vernal pools based on the Vernal Pool Conservation Criteria found in the VP SAMP at a rate of 2 pools and 70 acres for each vernal pool impacted.