Training

See also: Wetland Delineation, Polluted Runoff

The Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Program announces a 40-hour training on wetlands delineation to be held near Moss Landing, California November 17-21, 2008. Lots has changed with the field of wetland delineation in recent times, including new Supreme Court rulings and ACOE adoption of new, regional manuals and criteria for delineating wetlands. Well known wetlands experts Drs. Lyndon Lee, Peggy Fiedler, and Robert Curry will teach the class. They will be joined by soils expert Dr. Andrew Harley and ecological restoration expert Dr. Grey Hayes. While most wetlands delineation courses feature a single teacher with more narrow expertise, this is a rare opportunity to explore each of the three wetlands delineation parameters (soils, hydrology, and vegetation) in depth with well respected experts trained specifically in each area. Individuals from the private sector, all federal, state, regional, county and municipal agencies, universities and private non-profit organizations are encouraged to attend and will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis. Total course enrollment will be limited to 45 individuals. Tuition for the course will be $1400. In addition to tuition, all participants will be expected to pay for their travel and per diem expenses. Further details concerning tuition, lodging, and course logistics are explained in the course flier, available for download from the website. The chief objective of the training will be to provide participants with a comprehensive, lecture and field-based introduction to delineation of Waters of the United States, including wetlands. The technical foundations for the course will be the 1987 "Corps Of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual," the "Interim Regional Supplement to the Corps: Arid West Region" and the "Draft Regional Supplement to the Corps Manual: Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast Region." In order to accomplish the overall objective, specific segments of the course agenda will focus on: (a) Recognition and description of hydrologic indicators of wetland conditions on California's central coast (b) Identification and characterization of hydric soils and soil-forming processes characteristic to wetland sites in central, coastal California (c) Identification and characterization of hydrophytic plant communities typical to wetlands on California's central coast (d) Synthesis of hydrologic, soils, and plant community information for jurisdictional delineation of relatively pristine as well as highly degraded wetlands on California's central coast consistent with (1) the 1987 Corps Of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual , (2) the 1994 National Food Security Act Manual, and (3) current federal, state (including California Coastal Commission) and local agency policies and operating procedures. (e) Field and administrative techniques for (1) documentation and/or presentation of delineations of Waters of the U.S., including wetlands, and (2) recognition and documentation of non-compliance with federal, California and local waters/wetlands protection statutes. Throughout the course, lectures and classroom exercises will be combined with field trips to several different types of waters/wetland ecosystems in the vicinity of northern Monterey and southern Santa Cruz counties. Field exercises and discussions during the course will focus on a range of waters/wetland types that are typical to the Central Coast region of California. Field exercises are designed to vary in difficulty from the most basic to the most difficult jurisdictional calls. Stops will include estuarine tidal and freshwater marshes, riparian forests, vernal pools, seasonally wet meadows, slope wetlands, filled wetlands and other highly degraded sites. Participants will work closely with instructors to develop state-of-the-art knowledge of how to recognize and accurately map the geographic extent of Waters of the U.S, including wetlands. In particular, the course will focus on how to use the 1987 Corps Of Engineers methodology for identifying and delineating jurisdictional wetlands and relationships between the 1987 Corps Manual and the "Interim Regional Supplement to the Corps: Arid West Region", and the "Draft Regional Supplement to the Corps Manual: Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast Region." Given the moderate size of the class (45 students total), and the collective expertise of the instructor team, participants will have a rare opportunity to hone existing wetland delineation skills and to develop and apply new skills in a course that is specifically tailored for wetlands typical to California's central coast. This is a field based course. In this regard, a "hands-on" approach will be emphasized during all phases of lecture and field instruction. Upon successful completion of the course and requisite lecture and field examinations, participants will receive NWSTC CERTIFICATION that documents 40+ hours of training in the use of the 1987 Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual, the Interim Regional Supplement to the Corps: Arid West Region, and the Draft Regional Supplement to the Corps Manual: Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast Region. What's the difference between this and other wetlands delineation workshops? This course will discuss concerns on the new emphasis by regulatory agencies on the Arid West Region, and the Draft Regional Supplement to the Corps Manual: Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast Region. This course has a team teaching approach using experts in all three wetlands parameters. This course examines, in the field with hands-on methodologies, a wide array of wetland types including vernal pool, tidal wetland, hillslope seeps, riparian, seasonally wet meadows, disturbed and undisturbed wetlands, etc etc: the widest array of wetlands of any course of which we are aware in the region. What have past participants said? "I left the course feeling confident that I will be able to converse about and care for the wetlands I manage more effectively ... I am already in contact with several folks I met throught the class - planning site visits with some and troubleshooting with others. I feel like my work community expanded greatly over the course of the week - like I have some folks to bounce ideas off of and call when I am stumped. Hurrah! Thanks for an amazing week!" "My job requires that I fill out jurisdictional determination forms (integrating the Rapanos decision), so it was very useful for the instructors to address the precedence and details of how to address these requests coming from clients and the agencies." "Learning about the jurisdictional changes with Rapanos and applying those to actual sites was the most rewarding thing about the workshop." "Having a much better knowledge of what is and isn't a legal wetland and learning that not all wetlands and waters are considered equals in the eyes of the law was very valuable."