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fisheries, were estimated to be more then 90 percent estuarine-dependent . 20/ 

 Vegetative wetlands provide nursery and feeding areas for a large number of 

 species. Knowledge about wetland functions for fisheries in fresh water 

 areas is spotty and confined mostly to the Great Lakes. 



Enhancement of waterfowl may still be the strongest force behind wet- 

 land protection in this country. One scientist has noted that salt marshes 

 are the home of up to 60 species of birds, and that 200,000 waterfowl are 

 produced in the best years in eastern coastal marshes and 700,000 in the 

 marshes bordering 14 southern coastal States. 21 / 



Wetlands may be most important for habitat where they are least common 

 and animals have no alternative sites. The importance of small prairie 

 marshes to ducks has been demonstrated in research. 22 / When scarce wetlands 

 are lost as habitat, the migratory bird populations may decline because al- 

 ternative potential habitat is not available. 



Wetlands also provide necessary habitat for many rare or endangered plant 

 and animal species identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. More 

 than half of the areas identified as critical habitat under provisions of the 

 Endangered Species Act involve wetland areas. 23 / In addition, wetland areas 



20 / Chapman, Charles R. Freshwater Discharge. In John R. Clark, ed. 

 Coastal Ecosystems Management. New York, John Wiley and Sons, 1977. p. 635. 



21 / Niering, William A. Salt Marshes. In John R. Clark, ed. Coastal 

 Ecosystems Management. New York, John Wiley and Sons, 1977. p. 701. 



22 / Clark and Clark, Scientists' Report, p. 34. 



23 / Hirsch, Allen. Wetland Protection Programs of the U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. In National Wetlands Protection Symposium Proceedings. 

 FWS/OBS-78/97. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 Office of Biological Services. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1978. 

 p. 113-114. 



