Clearing Up the Mud

Kennebec Journal
April 2, 2011

MAINE COMPASS: Clearing Up the Mud
Some facts about Maine's significant vernal pools

By Anne Duperault

As the snow begins to melt, many of us soon will hear the sounds of
spring peepers and wood frogs calling around vernal pools -- unique
natural areas that have garnered much attention and confusion this
legislative session.

Vernal pools are small, shallow wetlands that provide big benefits to
people and wildlife. They are critical habitat for many species,
particularly frogs and salamanders, but they also are used by
waterfowl and deer.

Vernal pools also help fuel the surrounding forest food chain as
countless larger predators, from red fox to mink to woodland hawks,
prey on the annual crop of frogs and salamanders that emerge from
these habitats every year.

Recently, there has been substantial focus and misconceptions
regarding Maine's laws on vernal pools. Unlike several other
northeastern states, Maine does not protect all vernal pools. The
state protects only "significant vernal pools" based on specific
scientific criteria designed to target pools hosting rare and
endangered species or exceptionally high populations of pool-breeding
indicator amphibians.

Not every mud puddle or skidder rut is considered significant. In
fact, of the nearly 1,200 vernal pools reviewed to date by the Maine
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, only about 240 pools (20
percent) have been identified as significant vernal pools.

Further confusion arises when Maine is compared against other states
in the Northeast, especially with regard to "buffers" -- the setback
for land surrounding the pool.

Vermont, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland and Virginia apply
smaller buffers to a larger proportion of vernal pools than does
Maine. These buffers (25-100 feet) are too small to adequately support
many of the wildlife populations that require forested habitat
surrounding the pool.

Maine has a more scientifically supported buffer size of 250 feet that
is applied to a limited subset of the state's highest-value vernal
pools. The state's conservation approach focuses on quality and
functionality, not quantity.

Some have blamed Maine's vernal pool protections for impeding
development. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection,
however, has not denied a single permit for a development proposal
involving a significant vernal pool, according to its own briefing to
the Legislature last week (March 23).

Some also assume the word "buffer" to mean "no development activity."
This is not the case with Maine's vernal pool rules. Forest management
activities, including associated road construction, are exempt from
vernal pool protections. Low-intensity development activity is also
permissible, provided it is planned in a manner that minimizes its
impact to pool-breeding wildlife.

Maine's significant vernal pools have been part of the state's
regulated natural resources for almost four years, and part of Maine's
natural landscape for thousands of years.

Poorly planned development, however, can wipe these unique habitats
out in a matter of days.

Legislators beholden to a few outspoken, highly paid development
lobbyists should remember that the silent majority of Mainers treasure
the natural heritage that makes this state special. Any change to
science-based natural resource protections should not be done hastily
and in response to unsubstantiated rhetoric, but rather with careful
consideration of the facts.