Ch. 1— Summary • 21 



quire a congressioned mandate with accompanying 

 appropriations. 



Option 2: No. The existing approach for managing 

 wetlands is adequate. 



Some wetland scientists and many environmen- 

 talists have serious reservations about this in- 

 tegrated approach. While they agree that some wet- 

 lands are more valuable than others, they believe 

 that all wedands should be stringently protected; 

 tailoring would only weaken the protection that wet- 

 lands now have. There is also concern about yet-to- 

 be-developed procedures for implementing the con- 

 cept. For example, wedamds can be ramked accord- 

 ing to their relative importance for single ecological 

 services; however, it is not clear how the multiple 

 ecological services and intrinsic values of each wet- 

 land would be considered and weighed during the 

 categorization process. Important or yet-to-be- 

 discovered services could be overlooked. Also, the 

 relative values of wedands may change over time. 



Therefore, some wedands, especially those that fall 

 outside the framework of State and Federal regula- 

 tions, might not receive an adequate level of pro- 

 tection. Other institutional concerns focus on the 

 uncertainties about the administration of the tailor- 

 ing process, the potential for controversy and for 

 the use of political influence, and the possible high 

 costs associated with implementing such an 

 approach. 



OTA recognizes that there are uncertainties 

 about developing an integrated approach for 

 managing wedands. However, if the tailoring con- 

 cept is politically acceptable, it should be possible 

 to establish acceptable procedures for implement- 

 ing the tailoring process effectively. In light of ex- 

 isting uncertainties and concerns about tailoring, 

 it may be desirable first to test the viability of pro- 

 cedures in several regions of the country on a pilot 

 scale prior to making a decision about the desirabili- 

 ty of full-scale implementation. 



