CRS-62 



and defining areas subject to Federal regulations which evolved later. Many 

 agencies continue to use this classification system although a new classi- 

 fication system has been adopted. 



The new classification system was developed as part of the second inven- 

 tory, initiated in 1974. Whereas the 1954 inventory contained 20 classes, 

 the current inventory contains 5 systems, 10 subsystems and 55 classes. This 

 inventory was initiated under the broad responsibilities for resource protec- 

 tion and management contained in the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act. The 

 general mandate of the inventory is to "develop and disseminate a technically 

 sound comprehensive data base concerning the characteristics and extent of 

 the Nation's wetlands. 50/ The inventory is primarily a scientific study, 

 but it has already been of value to the regulatory program in areas where 

 mapping has been completed. 



When the new inventory was started, the earlier wetlands classification 

 system, developed during the 1950s, was determined to be inadequate because 

 of advances in wetland science and the expanding set of values considered in 

 the Federal wetland regulatory program. 51 / This new classification system 

 was designed to meet four objectives: 



1. to describe areas that have similar natural attributes; 



2. to arrange these areas in a system that will enable better resource 

 management decisions to be made; 



50 / Wilen, William and Rudolf Nye. National Wetlands Inventory Project. 

 In Proceedings — Coastal Zone 80. Vol. III. New York, American Society of 

 Civil Engineers, 1980. p. 1847. 



51 / U.S. Department of the Interior. Wetlands of the United States. 

 The Circular was first issued in 1956, then reissued, unchanged, in 1971 to 

 provide reference for implementing the Water Bank Act of 1970. 



