Number: 1986-16
WHEREAS, the loss of wetlands and bottomland hardwoods has become a national concern; and
WHEREAS, the lower Mississippi Valley has sustained significant losses of these resources; and
WHEREAS, the Yazoo Delta comprises approximately 4.5 million acres of alluvial floodplain lands that originally were totally covered with magnificent wetlands and high-quality bottomland hardwood forest; and
WHEREAS, agricultural expansion, aided in large part by numerous Corps of Engineers projects, has brought about the loss of almost four million acres of these wetlands and bottomland hardwood forests; and
WHEREAS, only remnants of these wetlands and forests now remain, comprising approximately 11 percent of the land area of the Yazoo Delta; and
WHEREAS, the agricultural economy of this Nation, and of the lower Mississippi Valley, has experienced dramatic losses, and long-range forecasts point toward continued agricultural economic problems; and
WHEREAS, the recently-passed Farm Bill, existing Executive Orders, and current legislative mandates call for the protection of wetlands and bottomland hardwood forests and a halt to agricultural expansion on fragile lands such as wetlands, and a further retirement from agriculture on marginal croplands; and
WHEREAS, the Army Corps of Engineers has prepared, and Congress has provided initial construction funds for, an enormous pumping plant to drain seasonal high water from remaining bottomlands at the rate of 17,500 cubic feet per second; and
WHEREAS, a large portion of the lands included in the area to be drained by the Yazoo Backwater Pumping Plant is comprised of marginal croplands, subject to flooding and poor drainage; and
WHEREAS, this project entails construction costs of $180 million and will benefit few landowners; and
WHEREAS, substantial amounts of electric energy will be consumed to operate these pumps; and
WHEREAS, the project is proposed to be built with 100% federal funding, unlike flood control projects in other regions where local interests must share the costs; and
WHEREAS, the loss of wetlands and bottomland hardwoods, the cost of the project, and the small number of benefited landowners provide ample reason for the project’s termination; and
WHEREAS, the Mississippi Wildlife Federation has been on record since the early planning efforts of this project as opposing it in theory and principle; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation and its affiliates have consistently opposed environmentally damaging and economically unjustifiable water resources projects;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 20-23, 1986, in Seattle, Washington, opposes the Yazoo Backwater Pumping Plant and requests that all planning for this project be halted and that the project be deauthorized; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all drainage and channelization projects of the Corps of Engineers in the lower Mississippi River Valley be subject to the same requirements for non-federal cost-sharing as apply to flood control projects throughout the country.