Enact a National Wetlands Protection and Management Act

April 1, 1983 Resolutions

Number: 1983-19

 

WHEREAS, this nation’s wetlands provide productive habitat for fish and wildlife, and contain biologically rich ecosystems, support numerous recreational activities, provide commercial fishery and fur resources, reduce flooding, recharge groundwater, trap pollutants and sediments, and control erosion; and

WHEREAS, about 50 percent of this nation’s original wetlands have been destroyed and about 450,000 acres of wetlands are lost each year; and

WHEREAS, some federal policies encourage wetlands drainage by providing tax incentives, information on wetlands drainage to some landowners, or subsidy programs; and

WHEREAS, comprehensive national wetlands legislation is needed to reverse the dangerous trend of wetland loss;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 17-20, 1983, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, calls on Congress to enact a National Wetlands Protection and Management Act that regulates all activities affecting wetlands, increases wetland acquisition, ends federal incentives and subsidies, which contribute to the degradation of wetlands, and includes the following:

  1. protection for all wetlands that provide benefits to the public;
  2. extension of the Wetlands Loan Act to the year 2000, expansion of the total authorization level by at least 50 percent, and deletion of the provision that provides for repayment of advances;
  3. a requirement that Land and Water Conservation Fund money be allocated to the migratory bird conservation fund annually on at least a matching basis with duck stamp funds collected the previous year;
  4. appropriation of Land and Water Conservation Fund money to provide grants to states for wetlands conservation purposes, on the ratio of three federal dollars for each state dollar spent;
  5. a requirement that duties on imported arms and ammunition be paid into the migratory bird conservation fund;
  6. authorization for the collection of fees from non-consumptive users for entry into designated, heavily used areas of the National Wildlife Refuge System, with the collected funds to be allocated to the migratory bird conservation bird;
  7. an increase in the level of appropriations to the Department of Agriculture Waterbank Program to ensure the maintenance and management of existing contracts and to increase the number of acres under easement and furthermore that this program be extended to other states where wetlands losses are occurring;
  8. elimination of all direct and indirect incentives and subsidies, including tax deductions and crop payments on converted wetlands, that encourage wetlands clearing, draining, or filling;
  9. a prohibition on new federal expenditures, and financial or technical assistance that encourage wetlands destruction;
  10. incentives for the conservation of wetlands through increased income, estate, gift, or capital gains tax benefits to allow the sale of conservation easements of wetland property to federal or state conservation agencies or qualified conservation organizations; and
  11. completion of the National Wetlands Inventory as soon as possible.