106 



must be consistent between and among federal regulatory programs (for 

 example, the Clean Water Act and the swampbuster policy in the United 

 States). 



Mitigation Policy 



• Mitigation through wetland restoration or creation must be an essential compo- 

 nent of wetlands management. The United States Congress, therefore, should 

 include a statement of mitigation policy in an amendment to the Clean 

 Water Act. 



• Mitigation banking is a useful tool, provided that (a) mitigation banks are 

 used strictly to mitigate unavoidable wetland impacts or losses, (b) 

 impacts are mitigated on-site when possible, (c) banks are located in the 

 same watershed or ecological region as the wetland impacts they mitigate, 

 and (d) bar\ks provide in-kind replacement of wetland functions and val- 

 ues lost. 



Nonregulatory Approaches 



• Any national wetland protection strategy must involve nonregulatory pro- 

 grams as essential complements to the regulatory program. SWCS thus sup- 

 ports continued and added emphasis on natural resource management 

 planning, programs to promote wetlands restoration and creation, devel- 

 opment of tax incentives to encourage wetland protection, public acquisi- 

 tion of wetlands, public education and management outreach programs, 

 wetlands mapping and tracking systems, and efforts to reduce incentives 

 that lead to wetland conversion. 



• Federal government should conduct a thorough assessment to identify key fed- 

 eral programs causing wetland conversion or degradation. 



• States/provinces should identify opportunities to reduce incentives for wetland 

 conversion or degradation. 



• Local governments should examine their full range of development controls to 

 identify and modify those that promote wetland conversion or degradation. 



Wetland Restoration and Creation 



• SWCS supports provisions of the North American Waterfowl Management 

 Plan, the Food Security Act of 1985, and the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and 

 Trade Act of 1990 that encourage and financially support wetland protection 

 efforts. In particular, SWCS encourages the Congress and the president to 

 fund the Wetland Reserve Program to its authorized level. 



Public Education 



• Educational programs on the values of wetlands and the purposes of regulatory 

 programs can help increase public support for those programs and the ability to 

 predict the outcome of regulatory decisions. Federal, state /provincial, and pri- 

 vate educational and outreach programs must be expanded. 



