CRS-40 



of vegetative or aquatic life that requires saturated or season- 

 ally saturated soil conditions for growth and reproduction. Wet- 

 lands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas 

 such as sloughs, potholes, wet meadows, river overflows, mud flats, 

 and natural ponds. 7/ 



Scientists are particularly interested in variations among wetlands. What 

 are the functions and values of different wetland types under different con- 

 ditions? For example, recent research results show tidal wetlands less impor- 

 tant in supporting juvenile populations of commercially-valuable fish popu- 

 lations in southern California than in the southeastern United States. 8/ 

 Tidal wetlands, although located in similar positions in the hydrologic sys- 

 tems of both regions of the country, are performing different functions at 

 different levels. Economists and ecologists have been using this knowledge 

 of functions to attempt to estimate the economic value of wetlands. Success 

 in these efforts has become increasingly important as all levels of government 

 have been confronted with the need to define more precisely why wetland areas 

 should be protected. 



Wetland managers' needs may seem less complicated. Most importantly, they 

 must determine if a site is a wetland. When a site is determined to be a wet- 

 land, then the regulatory rules apply. (These rules have limited latitude to 

 accommodate variations in wetland functions.) While scientists are concerned 

 with understanding the differences in the two types of tidal wetlands described 

 above, managers treat them in a similar way in the present Federal regulatory 

 program. One wetland question that exemplifies the differing concerns of the 

 scientist and the manager is determining wetland boundaries. 



7/ 33 C.F.R. 323.2. 



8/ Clark, John and Judith Clark, eds. Scientists' Report: The National 

 Symposium on Wetlands. Washington, National Wetlands Technical Council, 1979. 

 p. 11 , 15. 



