A bill that changes state governance over non-federal wetlands has been amended in the legislature, but a conservation group spokesperson says it still leaves many places unprotected.
Ryan Billingham of the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters says the bill originally aimed at removing protections for isolated wetlands, about 20 percent of the state's total wetlands. Isolated wetlands largely are not connected to navigable waters.
The bill has passed the necessary committees in both chambers of the legislature. The bill was being debated in the Assembly and will likely be debated in the next couple of weeks in the state Senate.
Billingham says wetlands are essential to the state...
"....wetlands are incredibly important. They mitigate flood damage. They basically are giant sponges that hold rainwater runoff and snowmelt. They are also the first line of defense against groundwater pollution. They are big filters and also home for wildlife, especially waterfowl..."
Promoters of changing the law say the current law ties the hands of developers and contributes to urban sprawl as developers move away from wetlands near communities. They say many of the wetlands hold little environmental value. Amendments have changed the bill, but there's an estimate of hundreds of thousands of acres of isolated wetlands that will still be unprotected.
Critics says the bill decreases local control by limiting local ordinances that would protect wetlands deemed important by those communities.
