BASIC MESSAGE

Vegatative buffers - the most effective management practice for controlling polluted run-off - have been removed from the final draft of Wisconsin's new polluted run-off rules. Letters are needed to the head of the Natural Resources Board asking for the buffers to be re-inserted. Your comments should be sent to:

Natural Resource Board

Trygve Solberg, Chair

P.O. Box 7921

Madison, WI 53707

To see one sample letter, click here.

Here's the basic message and background on buffers from the River Alliance's Steph Adams:

The urban side of the rules are quite strong and should be passed as is. On the agriculture side, the most important best management practice was removed from the final draft. Vegetated buffers of at least 35 feet are the most effective means of trapping sediment and other pollutants. Mandatory vegetated buffers can be included in the rules without putting the CREP program at risk.

The rules provide strong performance standards for new road building, construction projects, and new developments. We support these rules as they are now.

However, in the agricultural standards, vegetated buffers have been removed from the final draft. The use of natural vegetative buffers is a key component to stopping contaminated runoff and excess sediment from reaching lakes, rivers and streams, moderating stream temperatures and creating habitat for wildlife.

While we believe that the rules require adequate buffers between waterways and urban land uses such as construction sites and roads (DEVELOPED URBAN AREAS WILL BE REQUIRED TO PROTECT WATERWAYS WITH BUFFERS), the recent weakening of standards for buffers between farmland and waterways from mandatory to voluntary is unacceptable.

Despite a consensus-based agreement of the Agriculture Performance Standards Workgroup in 2000 that called for mandatory buffers of 10 FEET WITH 90 FEET OF MINIMUM 50% COVER OR 20 FEET WITH 30 FEET OF 50 % COVER OR 35 FOOT BUFFERS, the rule package before the Legislature today only asks farmers to voluntarily comply with buffer standards. There was an agreement between conservationists, counties, farm organizations and environmentalists. The current draft of the rules has gone back on the original agreement.

This doesn’t have to be a choice between federal money and mandatory buffers. Wisconsin can remain eligible for CREP money while ensuring that Wisconsin’s waterways are being restored and protected for future generations.

Brown County has a mandatory buffer ordinance AND a CREP contract with the state. Over 60 landowners have already signed up for CREP. Brown County effectively put a moratorium on their buffer ordinance for the duration of CREP. Now, a mandatory buffer ordinance is available after CREP ends. The Farm Service Agency has sent a letter to Brown County officially recognizing this solution.

The CRP and CREP programs are generous, but they are voluntary. Not all land eligible for buffer strips will be enrolled in these programs. A mandatory provision would encourage landowners to take advantage of available money. In counties or lands where CREP and CRP are not available, a buffer requirement would allow counties to prioritize buffers in their land conservation plans. Without the mandatory buffer standard, counties have no way of requiring the most efficient and effective practices to be used first. Furthermore, a mandatory buffer clarifies the importance of this practice to landowners.

No landowner will have to put in buffers unless they are offered 70 percent cost share or 90 percent if they can show economic hardship. A required buffer is not an unfunded mandate, it is a tool for prioritizing the most effective practices first. If a County Conservationist thinks another practices is more effective for a certain property, a buffer will not be required (cost share won't be offered).

Here's the basic message and background on buffers from the River Alliance's Steph Adams:

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