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B. WETLANDS PROTFXTION 



Wellands provide this nation with a broad array of critical ecological 

 functions from which all Americans derive enormous economic, 

 recreational, and other benefits. Key wetlands functions include 

 flood conveyance, water quality improvement, spawning and rearing 

 habitats for many fish and other aquatic life, breeding grounds for 

 waterfowl, and groundwater recharge. EPA recently found that in 



1991, human activities which rely heavily on wetlands such as 

 hunting, fishing, camping, and wildlife photography added 

 approximately $59.5 billion to the nation's economy. 



We cannot afford to squander these valuable resources, but we are 

 at a continuing high, unacceptable rate. The most recent, best 

 estimate of wetlands loss is 290,000 acres per year, during the 

 period from 1976-1985, as measured by the US Fish and Wildlife 

 Service's National Wetlands Inventory. This large rate of loss 

 directly threatens all the aquatic fish and wildlife dependent on 

 wetlands, and all Americans who depend on these resources for their 

 livelihoods and recreational pursuits. 



We urge this Committee not to be deceived by recent reports of 

 allegedly low, current rates of wetlands loss that some groups are 

 using to discount the magnitude of the problem and undercut the 

 need to strengthen wetlands protection. The National Wetlands 

 Inventory loss estimate is the only comprehensive and reliable 

 estimate that exists. Recent published Corps of Engineers and USDA 

 National Resource Inventory (NRI) reports do not accurately reflect 

 the amount of wetlands currently being lost in the US, rather these 

 reports only provide a partial accounting. The NRI loss statistic — 

 29,000 acres of wetlands converted to non-wetlands in 1991 -- only 

 focuses on a subset of wetlands losses. The NRI was never designed, 

 or intended, to provide estimates of national wetlands loss. In fact, 

 the NRI data intentionally omits nearly 30 percent of the U.S. and 

 fails to examine even the most significant coastal wetland losses. 



Similarly, the Corps' loss statistic — 13,000 wetland acres in 1992 — 

 only accounts for some of the direct impacts the Corps authorized in 



1992. It does not account for the literally thousands of acres of 

 wetlands destroyed under loopholes, such as the ditching and 

 draining loophole (700 acres of valuable pocosin wetlands were 

 destroyed in just one instance under that loophole). The Corps figure 

 also does not reflect frequently large secondary impacts (in one case. 



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