Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said in response:

This shortsighted bill will leave Americans at greater risk of flooding, damage our rivers and wildlife, and fleece taxpayers. Apparently, all it takes is a classic Washington pig roast to break the gridlock in the Senate.

It would cost an estimated $60 billion to build all the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects currently on the books. Today, the Senate has added to the backlog while undermining the process that identifies which projects provide real value. Time and time again, commonsense environmental reviews have shed light on expensive, damaging proposals that are not in our national interest.The Water Resources Development Act is vital for helping to restore national treasures like the Everglades and the Mississippi River Delta. Unfortunately, language in this bill undermines the bedrock environmental principle that the federal government should look before it leaps. For example, this bill will allow the Army Corps to fine other federal agencies up to $20,000 a week if they aren’t able to meet the new rushed deadlines for environmental review.

Now the debate moves to the House. We look forward to working with our representatives to protect the integrity of the environmental review process, and to enact meaningful reforms that will prioritize low impact solutions and modernize the management of existing projects. This bill must be fixed before the President signs it into law.

Read more about the Water Resources Development Act:

• Will Senate Water Down Environmental Protections While the Midwest Floods?
• Black Bears and Wetlands and the Water Resources Development Act…Oh, My!
• Five Ways the Water Resources Development Act Harms Wildlife
• Congress and Water Projects in America: The Latest on the Water Resources Development Act

Today, spokespeople representing three different backgrounds and perspectives offered up their opinions of the Water Resources Development Act (S.601), which is scheduled for a cloture vote at noon Tuesday ET.

Download the audio of the telepresser here.

Steve Ellis, Vice-President, Taxpayers for Common Sense: “We’re opposed to the Senate Water Resources Development Act because it cedes too much power to the administration and it costs too much money. When we are looking at enormous budget deficits, we have a $16.5 trillion debt, we have got to prioritize our investments and this bill does very little of that. It also adds to the $60 billion project backlog the Corps already has.” (Mr. Ellis speaks from 1:55 to 6:38 on the audio recording.)

Melissa Samet, Senior Water Resources Counsel, National Wildlife Federation: “The bill strikes at the environment by undermining protections that have been provided by the nation’s environmental laws for four decades. … The Corps has a long and well-documented history of fundamentally flawed project studies. The Corps also has a well-recognized institutional bias for constructing large scale projects that damage the nation’s rivers, coasts and wetlands even when less damaging options are available.” (Ms. Samet speaks from 6:38 to 11:24 on the audio recording.)

Michael L Davis, former deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works and vice president at Keith and Schnars: “There’s no evidence that these types of reviews substantially slow down projects…. One of the most critical things the water resources bill can do is set some priorities for our water resources portfolio in this country. Looking at the backlog and getting rid of the things that are no longer needed or ought not to be constructed with contemporary thinking about the environment. … It is naïve to believe that you can just streamline these processes without understanding one of the real issues, which is the funding and staffing of these agencies.” (Mr. Davis speaks from 11:24 to 17:00 on the audio recording.)

These cute, baby, Louisiana Black Bears are at risk of losing their habitat if the environmental review provisions are not removed from WRDA 2013 (photo credit: flickr/USDAgov)

However well-intentioned this bill is, there are extremely dangerous sections that threaten the safety and well being of the environment and the public – two provisions in particular will steamroll an integral environmental review process that has been in place for over 40 years.

In order to initiate projects that will protect the public and our natural resources, the Army Corps of Engineers needs this bill to be signed into law. But all the good projects that could be constructed could very well be negated by these harmful provisions. Streamlining the environmental review process does not reduce costs, does not protect the environment, and does not serve the greater good for the public. In fact, creating bureaucratic hurdles and fines will allow bad projects to slip through under the cover of darkness, and could jeopardize the very water resources we rely on for drinking water and commerce.

Stand Up For Your Water Resources!

In the first week of May the Senate is expected to vote on S. 601. If the destructive environmental provisions are not removed, the environment, wildlife, and people will face grave consequences. Please remove provisions in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) that would significantly undermine the environmental review process – section 2032 on Study Acceleration and section 2033 on Project Acceleration.

Honoring the River: How Hardrock Mining Impacts Tribal Communities

April 25- For more than a century, American Indian tribes and Alaska Natives have suffered the impacts of hardrock mining while enjoying few of its benefits.

A new National Wildlife Federation report, Honoring the River:  How Hardrock Mining Impacts Tribal Communities tells the story of hardrock mining and tribes, from the checkered history of federal legislation allowing mining companies to lease minerals on tribal lands—often without tribal consent—to the many new mines being proposed near tribal communities.

“Access to clean drinking water, clean air, and healthy fish and game are inherent human rights that no lawmaker can give away,” said Mike Wiggins, chairman of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, whose land has been threatened by Gogebic Taconite’s proposed open-pit iron mine. “Some of the environmental impacts, like acid mine drainage, will last into perpetuity.”

Read the Wildlife Promise blog on the report!

Douglas County Schools Receive Eco-Schools Honor

April 25 -Copper Mesa and Flagstone elementary schools in Douglas County were awarded Green Flags Thursday from the National Wildlife Federation’s Eco-Schools USA program for their exceptional achievement in conserving natural resources and integrating environmental education into the curriculum.

The schools are the first in Colorado to earn the Green Flag and just the 14^th and 15^th nationwide. The award is the highest in the Eco-Schools program, an international network of 41,000 K-12 schools in 53 countries. The National Wildlife Federation is the program’s US host.

“We in the regional office of the National Wildlife Federation are proud that these two Colorado schools are part of an elite group of students, faculty and staff members dedicated to ‘greening’ their schools and hands-on education,” said Ann Morgan, NWF’s regional executive director

Click here for more information on Eco-Schools USA.

National Wildlife Federation Donates $15,000 for San Francisco Bay Porpoises

April 20- In celebration of Earth Day, the National Wildlife Federation is making its first donation to Golden Gate Cetacean Research. The donation is in support of the organization’s work to help keep the porpoises in San Francisco Bay. It is the first step in a multi-year campaign to raise $500,000 for the animal’s conservation. The donation will be presented at a special Earth Day Fair hosted by Alcatraz Cruises, a supporter of the campaign.

After a 65-year absence, porpoises have made an amazing return to the San Francisco Bay. To celebrate this success and to ensure the marine mammal’s continued residence in the Bay, National Wildlife Federation and Golden Gate Cetacean Research have partnered on a “Return of the Porpoise to San Francisco Bay” campaign.

 To learn more about the campaign, visit  http://www.nwfcalifornia.org/sfporpoises/

 And now here are highlights from NWF in the news:

• Washington Post: Home Design Certified Wildlife Habitats Bloom Throughout Fairfax County
• Today Show: NWF Celebrates Earth Day with Kathie Lee and Hoda
• CNN.com : 7 stunning U.S. spots for wildlife
• USA Today: Gulf Coast still waiting for funds after spill
• ABC News: Three years later: Oil spill cleanup, study carries on
• Politico: Green groups seeing red over Barbara Boxer’s water bill
• Los Angeles Times: EPA criticizes environmental review of Keystone XL pipeline
• NPR: Tar Sands Pipelines Should Be Held to Different Standards
• San Antonio Express News: Protect whooping cranes to protect Texas heritage
• Public News Service: Clean Water Act “Loopholes” for Mining Affect Montana Tribes
• PennLive: Brook trout is climate change loser; bobwhite quail could be winner
• 9News.com: Douglas County recognized as “greenest” school district in the state
• StarDem.com: National Wildlife Federation launches three contests for children
• InsideClimateNews.com : Arkansas Oil Spill Damage Assessment: If Not the Feds, Then Who?

 For more visit www.nwf.org/news

NWF: Keystone XL Tar Sands Vote a Test of Climate Commitment

March 22-The U.S. Senate is set to vote today on what’s known as the Hoeven amendment, a non-binding amendment that expresses support for building the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline regardless of its impacts on wildlife, climate change, and clean water.

Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said today:

“We’re coming off America’s hottest year on record as the cleanup from climate-fueled superstorm Sandy is still ongoing, and what’s the Senate hard at work on? Earning its low approval rating by capitulating to polluting special interests with a meaningless vote on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Check out more on Keystone XL

Westerners Praise Salazar Plan to Protect Water from Costly Oil Shale Speculation

March 22-Westerners praised the Salazar oil shale plan released by the Interior Department today for its smart approach to protecting water and local communities from costly oil shale speculation.

“We commend Secretary Salazar for developing a commonsense plan that makes public land available for research but requires results and environmental safeguards before any commercial leasing can proceed,’’ said Michael Saul, attorney with the National Wildlife Federation. “This new plan aims to ensure that we won’t risk precious water, air quality, fish, wildlife and the regional economies that depend on those resources on a gamble that might never pay off.”

The plan requires that companies conduct successful research operations of oil shale and prove oil shale’s economic viability before the Bureau of Land Management will consider commercial development. Companies will also be required to put proper safeguards in place to protect water supplies, land, wildlife, air quality and local economies.

For more on Carbon Pollution, visit  Stopping Carbon Pollution

NWF’s Yakima River salmon and ecosystem restoration project in Washington state, led by Steve Malloch,  is a good example of how this kind of engagement with local communities pays off.  As this editorial by the conservative Seattle Times points out, the conservation community has negotiated a very promising deal with farmers and the Native American tribe in the Yakima basin.  Declining snow pack and other impacts of climate change on local hydrology poses huge threats to the livelihoods of farmers as well as to the future of the salmon that the Yakima Nation tribe depends upon. These threats caused everyone – the farmers, the Yakama Nation, conservationists and government at all levels – to take a new look at how to manage the water.

Yakima River

This formula for achieving  broad support of a new water management policy may not work everywhere, but in this basin, it is the only way to create a more resilient ecosystem and economy – good for fish, farmers, forests and families.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, the National Wildlife Federation asked you to share your ‘fishable’ photos and your stories about why clean water and fishing matter to you and your family. We had a wonderful response – a testament to the joy of being on the water. Here we celebrate our fishable waters by sharing with you just a few of the highlights.

You can peruse all of the NWF “fish-tales” photos here

Our celebration also spawned a few more in-depth and inspiring fish tales: Montana Sushi Girl, Fishing the Nottoway: A Clean Water Blessing, Hunters and Anglers Favor Restoring Clean Water Act Protections for Wetlands and Streams, and The Clean Water Act: Up Close and Personal.

The River Runs Through It

“Fish On!” shared this classic “River Runs Through It” fish pic capturing the serenity of fishing Alaska’s Russian River…

and his nice Russian River “Sockeye Salmon” catch! He inspires us with his call: “Let’s keep our waters clean and streams and rivers protected with a strong Clean Water Act so my son’s children can also enjoy the bounty our fresh water resources have to offer!”

Bass are Big in the Heartland!

Kristi Pupak, 23, grew up outside of Milwaukee and moved to Jamestown, Kentucky to work at a national fish hatchery. Working to educate others about how natural environments function, fishing has been the one constant in her life that has kept her balanced. “I’m passionate about fish, their habitat, behavior, and how to catch them. I’ve had this obsession all my life.” Fishing in Wisconsin waters for most of her life, and as a recent resident of Kentucky, has taught her a few things about different fishing techniques. A visit to Wisconsin this past summer led to an 18” largemouth bass caught in Washington County.

G-lyn’s neice caught this largemouth bass while fishing by herself at her uncle’s farm in Oklahoma. It was the biggest freshwater fish she had ever caught and she was so excited. She called her dad out to help her take it off the hook and got some great pictures. She would not have been able to have this experience without the clean water necessary for fish to thrive.

Fishing the Waccamaw, River to Bay

Thanks to the Waccamaw Riverkeeper for these Waccamaw fish tales from river to bay. “Fishing from the Bank” by Bill Gobbel shows an angler fishing from the banks of the Waccamaw River near Conway, South Carolina for redbreast to take home to the family. Redbreast is a local favorite.

Downstream, the Waccamaw flows into Winyah Bay near Georgetown, South Carolina, where Jay Preslar captured a mighty big tarpon in his “Tarpon Tales” photo. Tarpon fishing in Winyah Bay and the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina’s Grand Strand is a fun way to spend an afternoon. Keeping our water clean and healthy supports healthy fish populations, fun recreation and a healthy economy.

Fishable Waters for the Kids!

Fishing is great fun for kids, and we need to “hook ‘em” young so that they learn to love the waters and protect them for generations to come!

“K fishing” shows the West Branch of Perkiomen Creek in southeast PA — the first place this handsome man ever fished! It’s certainly not fit for boating at this point, but there’s no question that it’s an important water worth protecting, just like the even smaller streams that feed it and the nearby wetlands that keep pollution from getting into it.

And, from “Swamp Doc”…you gotta love it: Little Hank immersed in the fishing experience from head to toe!

So, Happy 40^th Birthday, Clean Water Act! Here’s to 40 more years of clean water and great fish tales!

Brown Trout. Flickr photo by Tony Warelius

Among other things, like the sublime experience of nature’s solitude and the ability to slow down and collect my thoughts miles away from the frenetic pace of daily life, I realized there was something else that was escaping my awareness during my fishing experience. It was perhaps the most important ingredient that makes my passionate hobby all possible and I was constantly looking at it but never really seeing it-clean water and healthy aquatic habitats. Sure, I could read water and determine the most likely places where the fish would be, but mostly I was looking through the water and past it, as if it was somehow separate from the fish it supported. And, ironically, at that point I had already spent a significant amount of time in a professional career advocating for national policy changes that would clean up this country’s threatened water resources. So it took some time to appreciate much larger considerations about the sport of fishing, its important connection to the world of public policy in which I was deeply and personally immersed, and the most important pillar upon which all aquatic species rely: the Clean Water Act.

Clean Water Act Successes

So as we celebrate the 40^th anniversary of this historic federal environmental law this week, I’m thankful it didn’t take me until my golden years to connect all the dots. Since its enactment in 1972, the Clean Water Act has resuscitated thousands of waterways across the country; in many cases bringing them back from their deathbeds. Prior to 1972, many of our rivers and streams were little more than open sewers, receptacles for untreated chemical and biological pollutants that suffocated and defiled them to such a degree that they held little to no life.

The beautiful Snake River in Wyoming. Flickr photo by Bala Sivakumar

The speed at which the Act aided in the recovery of the nation’s waterways was breathtaking. You’d have to look long and hard to find another national law that triggered these types of sweeping changes in such a short period of time. For the first time in the country’s history, strict limits were placed on the direct discharge of pollutants from factories and sewage plants into our waterways. As importantly, the Act created mechanisms to control the destructive impacts of explosive and poorly planned land development that destroyed wetlands and streams and sent massive loads of sediment and nutrient pollution into waterways choking out critical fish spawning habitat, depleting oxygen content to lethal levels for many aquatic species, and threatening the nation’s public drinking water supplies. Beyond that, the Act was also truly visionary.

Before it was fully understood in public policy circles and among many in the scientific community that addressing pollution concerns in rivers and streams required a comprehensive and holistic approach, the Act provided opportunities to control all sources of pollution at a watershed level. This is an experiment that is now unfolding in the Chesapeake Bay and possibly the only approach that will save one of this country’s most treasured great waters.  Decades of implementation of the Act’s key provisions has lead to new and innovative approaches and smarter thinking about ways to address water pollution and has spurred a national discourse about the economic benefits of clean water.

Study after study now reveals what most of us intuitively knew for many years, clean water plays a vital role in economic health, a lesson that could not be timelier in these days of dire fiscal challenges.  For these reasons the Clean Water Act, forty years later, continues to be a shining example of brilliant public policy that protects people, communities, wildlife, and the economy. And when I find fish these days, I’m thinking about a lot more than just catching them.

If you care about clean water and would like future generations to have fishable, swimmable and drinkable waters, take action and help restore clean water today! Also, please participate in our social media actions TODAY.

My Dad and I were fishing the Nottoway River in Virginia a few years ago, a river I grew up on and now protect as a Riverkeeper. We had fished all morning and caught a few fish, but were about one fish short of having enough for the whole family. We could not fish any longer as my Dad and I both had obligations that afternoon.

Disappointed, we were not going to have enough fish to eat later that night, I said: “Well, we came close to getting enough to eat, but I guess we’ll have to let these go barring a miracle from above.”

An osprey clutches its prey. Flickr photo by Bill Weaver.

Just as I was reaching into the live well to grab the first fish to throw back, there was a large splash beside the boat only four feet away. My dad, startled, said “WOW, what was that?!” I looked and there was a nice eating-size largemouth bass floating beside us. We then heard this big SWOOSH SWOOSH sound and looked up to see an osprey (which you don’t see often on my rivers) gaining altitude straight over our heads. I looked at my dad in disbelief and said, “That osprey just nearly dropped that fish right in the boat.” We dipped up the fish and it was still fresh and in one piece; it was the perfect fish to fill out our catch so we could feed the family.

“Well,” my Dad said, “there is your miracle from above.”

I now have a tattoo on my arm (my only tattoo) of an osprey, and the local Nottoway Indians call me Fish Hawk and say that the Great Spirit blessed us with that fish that day for looking after the river that bears their name, the River we call Nottoway.

Help Protect Clean Water!

Join hunters, anglers, and conservationists in celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act! Speak out for clean water on Facebook and Twitter, and take action now to restore Clean Water Act protections for wetlands, lakes, and streams!

Jeff Turner was born and raised in the Southampton County area and has lived there all his life. Turner has camped and fished on the Blackwater & Nottoway Rivers all his life. Jeff works with state and local agencies to protect and enhance the watershed and is often sought out by these agencies for his intimate knowledge of the rivers. He currently sits on the Virginia Mercury Advisory Board, The Chowan Basin Flood Study Committee, the Albemarle Pamlico National Estuary Program (APNEP) CAC committee and the International Paper CAC committee. In 2008 Jeff he won national recognition by winning runner-up in the Volvo Hometown Hero’s Volvo For Life Award winning $25,000 for the Blackwater Nottoway Riverkeeper Program.

Manhattan Beach. Flickr photo by elfidomx.

California’s Waters Depend on the Clean Water Act

In light of two Supreme Court decisions, the scope of the Clean Water Act has been narrowed leaving at least 66% of streams and more than 77,000 acres of scarce wetlands in California at risk of uncontrolled filling and pollution. To protect California’s waters, Clean Water Act protections need to be restored to all wetlands, lakes, and streams throughout the state.

These small and seasonal streams and wetlands trap substantial amounts of nutrients, chemicals, and sediments.  They are vital for capturing fertilizers and other run-off from California’s cities and 75,000 farms and ranches. If these pollutants are not filtered out then they will reach downstream waters, increasing drinking water treatment costs and damaging fish and wildlife.

Los Angeles River. Flickr photo by Al Pavangkanan.

What’s next?

If the small, intermittent streams are not protected then the services they provide will no longer exist. Therefore, Californians may be at risk for increased flooding, drought, nutrient pollution, stormwater runoff and polluted beaches. We can celebrate the success the Clean Water Act has provided us, such as cleaner Californian beaches and streams, but there is still work that needs to be done.

For those of you who care about clean water—I’m looking at you America—help us celebrate 40 years of clean water and push forward for at least 40 more! I know what you’re thinking: “I haven’t even bought a gift, and I don’t even know what I am going to wear to the party!” Don’t worry, those details will work themselves out, but for now the easiest action is to participate in our social media actions this week.

Whiskey is for drinking, and water is for fighting over. No words have ever been so true. Fight for America’s waters and ensure that future generations have fishable, swimmable and drinkable waters! Take action and help restore clean water today!