Number: 2005-06
Restoration WHEREAS, protection of America’s coasts, lakes, rivers and wetlands is essential for the well being of its people and the health and sustainability of fish and wildlife populations; and
WHEREAS, much of America’s aquatic habitat — both fresh water and marine — has been severely degraded over the years by a variety of human activities, including oil and gas development, mineral extraction, pollution, agriculture, introduction of non-native species, as well as the creation and expansion of ports, harbors and navigation facilities, construction of flood control levees, dikes and channels to restrain floodwaters, and inappropriate water diversions; and
WHEREAS, the Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for much of this development, having deepened more than 140 rivers and harbors, built 11,000 miles of navigation channels on rivers, and built 8,500 miles of floodwalls and levees and more than 500 dams; and
WHEREAS, the destruction of aquatic habitat has taken a devastating toll on America’s fish and wildlife resources causing nearly 20% of the more than 4,000 native species that depend on streams, lakes, shorelines, wetlands and riparian areas to be designated as imperiled or critically impaired; and
WHEREAS, some of America’s most ecologically, culturally and economically valuable water resources, including but not limited to the Everglades, Coastal Louisiana, Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay, Delaware Bay, and the Mississippi, Columbia, Snake, Missouri, Platte, Chattahoochee (GA), Apalachicola (FL), and Ocklawaha (FL) rivers and their watersheds, and other major rivers and their watersheds, have been seriously degraded and need to be restored; and
WHEREAS, citizens groups, local communities and states are directing increased attention toward restoring aquatic resources and are for the most part, initiating and financing these restoration efforts locally with little assistance from the federal government; and
WHEREAS, despite passage in 2000 of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, Congress has not yet authorized many of the projects needed to restore Florida’s “River of Grass” — America’s Everglades — nor has it provided the $4 billion in funding needed to carry out the Plan; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana’s coastal wetlands support a major American fishery and help protect more than 2 million people, including the entire population of New Orleans, from hurricane damage; and
WHEREAS the federal government, on behalf of the whole country, conducted and funded most of the flood-control and navigation-related civil works projects that have damaged Louisiana’s coastal wetlands and should therefore bear a significant portion of the estimated $14 billion cost of restoring and revitalizing this ecosystem; and
WHEREAS, Chesapeake Bay suffers from excessive nitrogen pollution that has severely depleted the crab population in the river, and the governments surrounding the Bay have developed a clean-up plan to address this pollution that has identified a federal share of over $4 million; and
WHEREAS, the world’s largest available supply of fresh water, the Great Lakes, is jeopardized by habitat destruction, invasive species and pollution that threaten a $4 billion dollar commercial and sport fishery and drinking water for 40 million Canadians and Americans; and
WHEREAS, legislation was introduced but failed to pass in the 108th Congress that would have provided much needed coordination and several billion dollars in federal funding for protecting and restoring the Great Lakes;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), at its annual meeting assembled April 1-2, 2005, in Washington D.C., supports and encourages efforts to restore America’s coastal, marine and freshwater habitats; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that NWF calls upon Congress and government agencies to support and nurture the tremendous energy and enthusiasm being expressed in thousands of local areas across the country to restore aquatic habitats by supporting education and awareness efforts to inform people about the importance and values of aquatic habitat; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that NWF calls on the federal government to implement policies and provide funding to restore 1 million acres of aquatic habitat, a goal supported by the Estuary Restoration Act, which was signed into law in 2000, but which has not received needed funding; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that restoration programs and policies should complement, enhance and provide funding for existing and planned projects led by state, local communities and citizens organizations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that while federal support and funding is desperately needed, state and local entities should continue to fulfill and expand their responsibilities for leading restoration projects and engaging residents in transparent opportunities for public involvement; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that government programs and policies that are contrary to the goals of restoring aquatic habitat should be reformed, especially programs that subsidize or permit the destruction of wetlands, coastal and riparian resources and other valuable habitat; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that as federal agriculture, energy and transportation legislation is debated, NWF calls on Congress to direct federal agencies to implement policies and provide funding only for activities that protect, enhance and restore — not destroy — aquatic habitat; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that NWF calls on Congress to authorize and provide adequate long-term funding to protect and restore aquatic habitat in high priority regions, including but not limited to the Everglades, Coastal Louisiana, the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay, Delaware Bay, the Mississippi, Columbia, Snake, Missouri, Platte, Chattahoochee, Apalachicola, Ocklawaha rivers and their watersheds, and other bays, estuaries, lakes and rivers, and to provide funding to protect, enhance and restore smaller watersheds, rivers and estuaries.