Wetlands in 1992

April 1, 1992 Resolutions

Number: 1992-03

 

WHEREAS, wetlands provide society a number of important economic and ecological services, such as floodflow alteration, food chain support and wildlife habitat, groundwater recharge and purification, and sediment removal; and

WHEREAS, wetlands are the cradle of the nation’s commercial and recreational seafood industry which, conservatively, is estimated to generate in excess of $10 billion annually; and

WHEREAS, wetlands are essential to attaining the goals of the Clean Water Act to “maintain and restore the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation’s waters”; and

WHEREAS, a strong and effective Clean Water Act Section 404 program is integral to protecting the nation’s wetlands and its waters; and

WHEREAS, federal wetlands protection programs have come under intense attack by the Bush Administration which, among other things, seeks to dramatically reduce the number and acreage of wetlands by approximately 50 percent (as identified under the 1989 Wetlands Delineation Manual) that are presently protected by Section 404; and

WHEREAS, federal wetlands protection programs have also come under attack by members of Congress who seek to weaken and virtually eliminate the Clean Water Act Section 404 program during its reauthorization this Congress; and

WHEREAS, these efforts to destroy the nation’s wetlands protection programs are, in large part, being led by special interest groups, such as the industry-financed National Wetlands Coalition, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Homebuilders;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 19-22, 1992 in Portland, Oregon, will work to protect the Clean Water Act Section 404 wetlands protection program during reauthorization and to strengthen the Act by seeking to amend the law to:

  1. Expand the program to cover unregulated activities causing significant losses of wetlands;
  2. Strengthen the wetlands protection provisions of the general permit program;
  3. Improve and increase the efficiency of the permitting program; and 4. Require an independent study of wetlands delineation by the National Academy of Sciences before adoption of any revisions to the 1989 Wetlands Delineation Manual.