03/28/2006

Editorial

Lawmakers are obligated to put the lakes first

Armed with new evidence of the damage that clearing shoreline vegetation can do to Great Lakes fish species, the state's environmental watchdog agencies should immediately clamp down on beachfront owners who want to do any substantial work to their beaches.

More directly, the state Legislature should immediately rescind exemptions it issued in 2003 to the state's weland protection laws to allow mowing, raking and leveling sand along the lakes and even more destructive work in Saginaw and Grand Traverse bays.

The bays law isn't due to expire until June, but plenty of damage could be done by then. The wider maintenance exemption runs until November 2007.

Given the new evidence, Traverse City-area lawmakers — namely Sen. Jason Allen and Rep. Howard Walker — should lead the charge. Grand Traverse Bay is easily the area's greatest natural asset, and it's their obligation to see that it is given maximum protection.

Since it began, the beach grooming debate has been a clear case of special interests pitted against the greater public good, and so far, special interests have won out. The new report, however, should remove any doubt that the public good lies in protecting coastal wetlands, not in the desires of the influential few.

The study, ordered by the Legislature when it bowed to heavy lobbying in 2003 to give greater latitude to beach-grooming requests, showed that about 90 percent of the Great Lakes' 200 fish species use coastal wetlands for spawning, the Associated Press reported.

A Department of Environmental Quality official also told the AP that coastal wetlands are a refuge for native species under pressure from invasive species.

The analysis, the AP said, showed that uprooting aquatic plants in coastal wetlands harms young game fish, including yellow perch and bass. It can also endanger the aquatic food chain by reducing the number of snails and insects.

That is damning evidence that beach grooming efforts do more than provide homeowners and resort operators with more attractive beaches. The damage is real, and it must stop.

The DEQ has said it wants to issue new rules that will require a permit for the kinds of wholesale alterations seen in Saginaw and Grand Traverse bays in the last three years. Currently, only a "letter of intent" is required.

The Legislature essentially challenged the DEQ to find evidence that intrusive beach grooming harms the Lakes.

Now that they've got it, it's time for them to put Michigan citizens and the Great Lakes first.