SWS South Atlantic Chapter
Newsletter

This Spring we will elect a new SWS South Atlantic Chapter Chair who will serve a two-year term. The position offers an opportunity to serve 800+ members in the largest SWS Chapter, yet the time demands are quite reasonable. The Chair is required to represent the chapter at two, 2-day business meetings each year, one during the winter and the other during the annual meeting. The meetings are lively and eye-opening because of the wide range of activities the Society is engaged in. At these meetings, the Chair participates in discussions about SWS business and the direction of our international society, and s/he reports on activities occurring at the chapter level. The chance to direct chapter activities is one of the more rewarding aspects of the position. The chapter currently has a substantial surplus of funds that can be used to further our service to members. One service that has become an annual event is organizing a one-day workshop on some topic of interest such as "The Dirt On Wetlands: Does Soil Organic Matter Enhance Ecosystem Function In Natural, Created, And Restored Wetlands?" in 2001 or "Behemoth Wetland Restorations: Case Studies and Lessons Learned" in 2002. The Chair solicits ideas for these workshops and facilitates their organization. The only requirement for the position is that you are willing to advance the chapter. Please send nominations (including self-nominations) by April 1st to:

Patrick Megonigal
megonigalp@si.edu
443-482-2346

The Chapter's mid-year luncheon meeting will be held on Thursday, April 10th from noon-1:30pm, at the ASB (Association of Southeastern Biologists) Meeting in Arlington, VA. Cost for the Chapter luncheon is $35. You can register for the conference at www.biology.howard.edu/ASB/ASBstart_here.html. Please join us!

Cliff Hupp, the chair of the student travel awards committee, has received very few applications for student travel grants to the 2003 ASB meeting. If you or your student have submitted an application, but have not been contacted by Cliff to verify receipt of the application, please email Cliff (crhupp@usgs.gov) by February 15^th.

The Chapter’s annual business meeting will be held at the SWS conference in New Orleans. If you are at the conference, please attend this important get-together to help influence the Chapter’s direction and meet other wetland scientists from your neck of the swamps! We’ll meet on Tuesday, June 10^th, from 5:00 to 6:15 PM.

The Chapter is preparing a proposal to host the 2005 annual meeting of the Society of Wetland Scientists in Charleston, South Carolina. Carl Trettin, with the USDA Forest Service Center for Forested Wetland Research, is leading this effort with assistance from the Executive Committee. More importantly, (as organizing the international meeting is very work-intensive) are you interested in volunteering your time to help organize an annual meeting? Please let us know of your interest! Ann Jennings can be reached at 804-780-1392 or ajennings@savethebay.cbf.org.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency have issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) in order to obtain early comment on issues associated with the scope of waters that are subject to the Clean Water Act (CWA) in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s SWANCC decision. The ANPRM requests public input on issues associated with the definition of "waters of the United States" and also solicits information or data from the general public, the scientific community, and Federal and State resource agencies on the implications of the SWANCC decision for jurisdictional decisions under the CWA.

We urge members to send in their comments on this important wetland issue. Although you won’t be speaking for SWS, please mention your membership and PWS status, if appropriate. www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/swanccnav.html.