FISH AND WILDLIFE RESEARCH NEEDS 

 AS RELATED TO ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT 



Michael D. Zagata 



INTRODUCTION 



Fish and wildlife research relating to environmental assessment work (both basic 

 and applied) must be increased to minimize the potential for detrimental impacts 

 associated with man's activities, and to provide adequate information so that 

 decision-makers can make ecologically sound decisions.' This synthesis of a 

 statement issued by the Chairman of the President's Council on Environmental 

 Quality reflects the feelings of professional wildlife (including fish) researchers, 

 managers, and policy and decision-makers. Their feelings reflect those of the general 

 public, which has been the driving force in the passage of numerous laws aimed at 

 bettering the environment. ^ Gottschalk^ summed up the situation: 



Our problem of sustaining the production of fish and wildlife in future 

 years will grow at something approaching a geometric rate. It is not a 

 simple question of learning more about our living resources, though with 

 the broadening consciousness of the ecological web. that in itself consti 

 tutes a tremendous challenge. We must learn how to "make more with less" 

 — to make fewer acres of land or water sustain the numbers and varieties of 

 fish wildlife essential for the food and recreational needs of future genera 

 tions. 



LEGISLATIVE MANDATES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT 

 National Environmental Policy Act 



In response to the public's concern for maintenance and enhancement of 

 environmental quality. Congress and the Administration enacted numerous laws 

 duringthelate 1960s and the 1970s. Fish and wildlife resources, whether by design or 

 accident, benefited greatly from this environmental legislation. The National 

 Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, while limited to major Federal actions, 

 provided a mechanism, the environmental impact statement, for assessing the 

 potential impacts of some man-induced perturbations on a given system in advance 

 of the action. 



In fact, NEPA is the cornerstone of environmental legislation and has served as the 

 umbrella mandate for many of the acts discussed later in this paper. It requires all 

 Federal agencies to consider environmental values along with economic or develop- 

 mental considerations and encourages the interdisciplinary approach to addressing 

 environmental impacts. NEPA's main purposes are: "to declare a national policy 

 which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his 

 environment; to promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the 



The Author. Dr. Zagata currently is employed by Tenneco, Inc. as Manager of Ecological Sciences, 

 Department of Industrial Ecology, V.P.O. Box 251 1, Houston. TX 77001. This paper was written while Dr. 

 Zagata served on the Board of Agricultural and Renewable Resources, National Academy of Sciences, 

 Washington, D.C. 



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