DEQ wants tougher rules on clearing Great Lakes beaches

The Detroit News describes efforts to make it tougher to clean or clear vegetation from beach fronts:

Tighter restrictions should be imposed on clearing vegetation from Great Lakes shorelines because it alters water chemistry and damages fish habitat, state regulators said. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on Monday said a recent scientific analysis showed that uprooting aquatic plants in coastal wetlands harms young game fish such as yellow perch and bass. It also reduces populations of invertebrates such as insects and snails that form crucial links in the aquatic food chain, the agency said.

Shoreline property owners in some areas have pushed for the right to remove vegetation that sprouted in exposed bottomland areas when lake levels began dropping in the late 1990s. Some resort and hotel owners say the flora is unsightly on beaches and bad for business.

The state Legislature in 2003 temporarily exempted mowing and other beach maintenance activities such as raking and leveling sand from the wetland protection law. And it established two areas - Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron and Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay - where proposals to completely remove waterfront vegetation would be given expedited consideration.

The law instructed the DEQ to evaluate the effects of the new procedures and issue a report. Scientists with Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University led the study.

Unless extended by the Legislature, the law dealing with Saginaw and Grand Traverse bays will expire June 3. The beach maintenance law is scheduled to lapse Nov. 1, 2007.

Based on the study's findings, the DEQ wants to let both measures expire and replace them with new rules.

Under the proposed regulations, vegetation removal would require a permit - a higher hurdle than the expedited letter of request now required for the two bays. The agency has approved 78 of 90 such requests since the 2003 law took effect.

Additionally, the DEQ said it would set new rules for beach maintenance after the existing ones expire. Minimal activities such as raking that don't disturb plant roots would be allowed, but permits would be required for more substantial actions such as mowing and mechanical disking. The type of permit would depend on how disruptive the work would be.