Minnesota Waterfowl Hunting

Wisconsin DNR announces new wetland restoration plan

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 23, 2014 - 6:05 AM


MADISON, Wis. — The state Department of Natural Resources and federal environmental officials have developed a new plan to promote wetland restoration.

Currently the DNR requires parties that get permits to fill in wetlands to offset the impact by either restoring wetlands elsewhere or by purchasing credits from banks established by other entities that have done restoration work.

DNR officials say they've finalized an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that allows permit holders to purchase credits directly from the DNR, which will use the money to fund wetland restoration projects.

The agency plans to ask the public for possible projects. The corps and EPA must sign off on that spending and the DNR must ensure that work begins within three years.

Interesting. The WIDNR getting in on the wetland bank scam.

Corp of Engineers locks it down tight. Sadly they also don't allow you to make any improvements to your land for wildlife without acting like your building a parking lot in a wetland.

Bullet21XD wrote:Interesting. The WIDNR getting in on the wetland bank scam.

How is it a scam in your opinion?

Waterfowlist wrote:Corp of Engineers locks it down tight. Sadly they also don't allow you to make any improvements to your land for wildlife without acting like your building a parking lot in a wetland.

Please elaborate.

Dirty Bird wrote:

Bullet21XD wrote:Interesting. The WIDNR getting in on the wetland bank scam.

How is it a scam in your opinion?

Maybe racket is a better term.

I was planning to enhance an area and provide moist soil habitat and they said it didn't matter it was improving land fit wildlife. They still treated the project as if I was paving a marsh in the west metro

There is a pretty good duck lake in NW MN that years back the local DNR manager or USFWS decided it'd be a good idea to build some nesting islands. It's a designated game lake, DU put in a water control structure and it's not a bad place to shoot some ducks...and it raises quite a few as well.

The corps of engineers saw the islands and threw a conniption fit...absolutely flew off the handle for 'filling in a wetland.' We're talking about 3 small islands that might be a combined quarter-acre on few hundred acre lake.

But due to 'no net loss of wetlands' they couldn't handle the islands and wanted them removed. There was finally a compromise made and the DNR dug 3 holes in the woods the same size as the islands.

And then there was no net loss of wetlands!

Common sense at it's finest!

the corps is a great bunch to work with

A buddy of mine created a mighty fine wetland complex in the heart of drain tile country with assistance from the DNR. The DNR funded it and they did the work. About 20 years later a DNR guy knocks on their door and tells them they have to remove their man made wetland complex. They have been battling it in courts ever since. What a waste of our tax dollars.