108 



Statement of 



JAY A. LEITCH, PROFESSOR 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY 



Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I am pleased to be here today to address wetlands 

 and water quality issues. I am Jay A. Leitch, professor of agricultural economics at North Dakota 

 State University. I have been there since 1981 as a teacher and researcher in the areas of natural 

 resource economics and policy, government finance, and research philosophy. I have served on 

 OTA's Wetland Advisory Panel, as President of the Society of Wetland Scientists, as Scientific 

 Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Army, and as (IPA) Senior Economist in Interior's Office 

 of Policy Analysis. 



I have submitted a written statement and a copy of Wetland Policy Issues and request they be 

 inserted into the record. 



I represent CAST (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology). I chaired the CAST Task 

 Force that wrote Wetland Policy Issues. CAST is a coalition of 30 scientific societies devoted to 

 advancing the understanding and use of food and agricultural science and technology in the public 

 interest. 



I have been asked to address wetlands and nonpoint pollution. 



I intend to make two general pwints this morning regarding issues that are covered in far more detail 

 in the CAST policy issues report. The first issue regards wetland definition and the second wetland 

 value, both highly relevant to using wetlands to reduce nonpoint pollution. 



