Page 193 - MFB State Annual Meeting 2018 -- RESOLUTIONS BOOK

Statewide standards for wetlands determination must be established to ensure uniform application at all locations and establish the historical reason for the wetland.
Permits must be issued promptly.
Where application of this Act results in a substantial or total loss of the value of the property, the State must fully compensate the property owner. Control and access to the property must remain with the property owner.
Exclude all prior converted wetlands from regulation.
Cleaning up edges of fields back to the original farmed edges and removal of barriers such as brush and trees protruding into fields should not trigger a wetland determination or disciplinary action against the farmer/landowner.
Cost-sharing or other incentives for wetlands restoration programs on farms.
Establishing a fund to compensate neighboring farms for their economic loss due to unforeseen problems created by wetland restoration. Implementation of voluntary programs like the wetland reserve program and the conservation reserve enhancement program whereby farmers receive compensation in exchange for a conservation easement.
DEQ and Natural Resources Conservation Service completely explain in advance and in writing landowner obligations associated with the maintenance and/or reversion of a constructed wetland, which apply after the termination of the contract.
Creative solutions that reflect economic and environmental realities to resolve wetlands disputes.
Productive agricultural land should not be used to mitigate wetlands, especially by condemnation. Wetland violations be heard within the court jurisdiction where the violation has been alleged. Research that explores the correlation between West Nile Virus and standing water.
All issues of determination, enforcement, and penalties need to be handled by government agencies working in unison and cooperation with a single point of regulatory compliance.
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109 Protection Act that finds wetlands to be valuable as an
110 agricultural resource for the production of food and
111 fiber, including certain crops which may only be grown
112 on sites developed from wetlands.
DEQ should recognize the section of the Wetlands
State Policies – Page 107