Number: 1989-25
WHEREAS, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway was constructed at great cost to fish, wildlife, and waterfowl habitat; and
WHEREAS, this impact has been acknowledged by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in project documents; and
WHEREAS, the impact upon bottomland hardwood habitat has added significantly to the great loss of this critical ecological component; and
WHEREAS, the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, which authorized the implementation of fish and wildlife mitigation plans for the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway and other Corps of Engineers projects, including the Red River waterway and other Corps of Engineers projects, including the Red River Waterway, the Missouri River Navigation Project, and the Yazoo Backwater Area, made specific provision for the deauthorization of any project for which funds are not obligated within five years; and
WHEREAS, commitments were made to mitigate the acknowledged losses by providing funds for acquisition and management of suitable habitat, according to an acceptable plan; and
WHEREAS, the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway is now in operation and producing revenues, still no mitigation funds have been provided; and
WHEREAS, the mitigation obligation is due and payable to the citizens of Alabama, Mississippi, and the Nation; and
WHEREAS, repeated requests that mitigation funds be budgeted and appropriated have gone without positive response; and
WHEREAS, opportunities to obtain appropriate habitat to satisfy the mitigation obligation of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway have existed for some time now, but may not continue to be available on a willing seller basis;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 16-19, 1989, in Arlington, Virginia, hereby calls upon the Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Army, and the U.S. Congress to honor the mitigation commitment by moving promptly to implement the fish and wildlife mitigation plans for the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and other projects authorized in 1986 prior to the expiration of this authority in 1991.