{"id":12509,"date":"2017-03-01T12:15:18","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T17:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=12509"},"modified":"2017-03-01T12:15:18","modified_gmt":"2017-03-01T17:15:18","slug":"esa-joins-other-scientific-societies-in-support-of-clean-water-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2017\/03\/01\/esa-joins-other-scientific-societies-in-support-of-clean-water-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"ESA joins other scientific societies in support of Clean Water Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>ESA and six other scientific societies sent a letter to President Trump expressing\u00a0support for the Waters of the United States Clean Water Rule and endorsing an amici curiae<\/em>\u00a0brief\u00a0filed by wetland and aquatic scientists in support of the rule.<\/h3>\n

A version of the letter was also sent to Congress<\/a><\/span> urging members\u00a0to defend the Clean Water Rule.<\/h3>\n
\n

March 1, 2017<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump
\nThe White House
\n1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
\nWashington, DC 20500<\/p>\n

Re: Endorsement of Amici Curiae<\/em> Brief of Wetland and Water Scientists in Support of the Clean Water Rule<\/p>\n

Dear President Trump:<\/p>\n

The Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS), American Fisheries Society (AFS), American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), Ecological Society of America (ESA), Phycological Society of America (PSA), Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), and Society for Freshwater Science (SFS) support the sustainable management of the nation\u2019s waters. We are science-based organizations with diverse areas of expertise in the ecological and biological sciences. Our collective 200,000+ members and 130+ professional societies and research organizations work in the private sector, academia, and various tribal, state and federal agencies. As non-profit organizations, we support and foster sound science, education, restoration and management of wetlands and other aquatic resources. Thus, we track policies and actions that affect these aquatic resources and we promote science-based policy-making.<\/p>\n

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reviewing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers\u2019 Clean Water Rule, which defines the geographic coverage of the Clean Water Act. Recently, wetland and aquatic scientists filed an amici curiae<\/em> brief with the court in support of the Clean Water Rule. The organizations that have signed this letter agree with the brief and its use of sound science to explain the urgent need for the Clean Water Rule.<\/p>\n

The Clean Water Rule was developed using the best available science, technical experts, and >1,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies. The amici curiae<\/em> brief describes how wetlands, streams, and adjacent waters significantly affect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of traditional navigable waters, interstate waters, and the territorial seas. We urge you to repeal the February 28th<\/sup>, 2017 Executive Order pertaining to WOTUS, and encourage you to review the scientists\u2019 amici curiae<\/em> brief and to defend the Clean Water Rule instead. The amici curiae<\/em> brief is available at: http:\/\/stetson.edu\/law\/amicicuriae<\/a><\/p>\n

Wetlands provide many services that promote human well-being including economic and non-economic benefits.\u00a0 Foremost, they keep our streams, lakes, and groundwater cleaner by \u2018treating\u2019 urban and agricultural runoff; this treatment includes reducing the negative effects of pollutants, transforming harmful nitrates into harmless nitrogen gas, trapping sediment, and removing pathogens.\u00a0 They store water, and thus are a source of water during times of drought. \u00a0Many wetlands soak up runoff and floodwaters, which reduces peak flood-flows and avoids costly flood damage.\u00a0 Lastly, wetlands sustain essential habitat for wildlife, fish, and waterbirds to feed, nest, breed, spawn, and rear their young in \u2018productive nurseries.\u2019<\/p>\n

The nation\u2019s wetlands cover a tiny proportion of our landscapes (<6% of the lower 48 states), yet they contribute many times their \u2018fair\u2019 or proportional share in services to human well-being\u2014often more than 10 times as much as predicted from their area.* Like diamonds, they can be small, but extremely valuable.<\/p>\n

Current science overwhelmingly supports the Clean Water Rule, as detailed in the scientists\u2019 amici curiae<\/em> brief.\u00a0 All people depend on the nation\u2019s waters, and so we urge you to support the Clean Water Rule, which is needed for us to achieve the Clean Water Act\u2019s objective to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation\u2019s waters.<\/p>\n

Respectfully,<\/p>\n

Gillian T. Davies
\nPresident, Society of Wetland Scientists<\/p>\n

Joe Margraf
\nPresident, American Fisheries Society<\/p>\n

Robert Gropp
\nCo-Executive Director, American Institute of Biological Sciences<\/p>\n

David M. Lodge
\nPresident, Ecological Society of America<\/p>\n

Timothy A. Nelson
\nPresident, Phycological Society of America<\/p>\n

Bethanie Walder
\nExecutive Director, Society for Ecological Restoration<\/p>\n

Emily Bernhardt
\nPresident, Society for Freshwater Science<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

* Calculation is based on data in Costanza R, et al. 1997. The value of the world\u2019s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387:253\u2013260. This was reinforced by a recent update in Costanza R, et al. 2014. Changes in the global value of ecosystem services. Global Environmental Change 26:152\u2013158. For more information, see Zedler, JB, Kercher, S. 2005. Wetland resources: Status, trends, ecosystem services, and restorability. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 30:39\u201374.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ESA and six other scientific societies sent a letter to President Trump expressing\u00a0support for the Waters of the United States Clean Water Rule and endorsing an amici curiae\u00a0brief\u00a0filed by wetland and aquatic scientists in support of the rule. A version of the letter was also sent to Congress urging members\u00a0to defend the Clean Water Rule. March 1, 2017 President Donald…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":12116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1808,24,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-election-transition","category-ecology-in-the-news","category-ecology-in-policy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}