Number: 1977-02
WHEREAS, the planning of Federal public works projects has taken place in the past with low regard for water quality, fish, wildlife, and aesthetic values; and
WHEREAS, the Federal Government will continue to be involved in public work planning through construction programs (including those of the Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, Soil Conservation Service, and the Tennessee Valley Authority) and construction grants programs (including the Federal highway program and sewage treatment plant construction) despite adverse environmental impacts– for the foreseeable future; and
WHEREAS, the impacts of these public works programs on water quality, fish, wildlife and other environmental values can be reduced by proper planning and funding;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 24-27, 1977, in Washington, D.C. hereby recommends that all federal public works projects be planned and modified to confirm with these basic principles and provide:
- non-degradation of water quality in all areas affected by the project, including impoundments, downstream releases, and water courses affected by construction;
- Guarantee of adequate instream flows below the project to insure perpetuation of instream fish and wildlife values;
- Full mitigation of all land and water habitat losses occasioned by the project, to include acquisition of replacement habitat and its improvement in productivity to offset fish and wildlife losses, and measures to restore and maintain anadromous fisheries to pre-project strength;
- Conditions on construction grants to prevent secondary development induced by the projects in refuges, wetland areas, and other areas important as fish and wildlife habitat; and
- Full consideration, as an alternative to construction, of non-structural approaches (such as floodways, in the case of water resource projects, or land treatment, in the case of sewage treatment works construction which could accomplish project purposes with less destruction of fish, wildlife, and other environmental values.