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To celebrate the month of May as "American Wetlands Month" and recognize the work of the Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation District
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WHEREAS, since its establishment by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 1991, communities around the United States of America and federal agencies celebrate American Wetlands Month to recognize the importance of wetlands to both people and the environment; and
WHEREAS, wetlands allow for important ecosystem services to benefit communities and the environment including improving water quality, promoting biodiversity, storing floodwaters, maintaining surface water flows, carbon sequestration, and providing a natural aesthetic view for residents; and
WHEREAS, these ecosystem services are becoming increasingly important as the City of Columbus and the world faces the challenges of anthropogenic global climate change; and
WHEREAS, many of the enlisted threatened or endangered species in Ohio are associated with the wetlands, these species being increasingly at risk due to anthropogenic and natural causes of wetland loss and degradation; and
WHEREAS, the City of Columbus, through its Sustainable Columbus office, is committed to imparting equity and environmental justice through strong climate action and is guided by the Columbus Climate Action Plan which has a community-wide goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 and 45% reduction in emissions by 2050; and
WHEREAS, the City of Columbus Climate Action Plan has strategies and goals around reducing waste, increasing access to green space, and increasing the tree canopy in alignment with the City’s Urban Forestry Master Plan in order to facilitate climate change mitigation and adaptation in the city; and
WHEREAS, various federal, state, and local government agencies and departments such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department, and the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District work to protect wetlands in the City of Columbus, the State of Ohio, and the United States of America; and
WHEREAS, the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District is one of 88 soil and water conservation districts in Ohio that provides critical conservation services, climate change mitigation, education, and employment in Franklin County; and
WHEREAS, the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District has played an instrumental role in the conservation and maintenance of the Hellbranch Meadows stream and wetland since its purchase in 2008; and
WHEREAS, the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District has fully restored the wetland in 2020, involving restoring a floodplain bench and stream and extensive reforestation, and completed work on 40 acres in the front of Hellbranch Meadows, restoring 11 acres of wetland and 18 acres of wetland buffers to provide additional protection; and
WHEREAS, in addition to the government, community organizations like the Ohio Wetlands Association work to protect wetlands; and
WHEREAS, Keep Columbus Beautiful, a national affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, is a community improvement program started in 1984 that focuses on public education and volunteer service related to quality of life environmental issues including litter, recycling and beautification. In 2023 Keep Columbus Beautiful facilitated 11,564 volunteers, 29,972.30 volunteer hours, 792 cleanups, and the removal of 365,637 pounds of litter; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS: That this Council does hereby celebrate May as “American Wetlands Month” and recognizes the work of the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District; and