35 



Coastal wetlands are vftally important to marine commercial and recreational 

 fisheries, with up to seventy percent of marine fishery landings in some areas 

 dependent on coastal wetlands. These wetlands continue to be lost at a rate of 

 20,000 acres per year, which has contributed significantly to declines in U.S. fishery 

 stocks. 



Given the fact that wetlands are so important, it is a tragedy that we have lost 

 over 50 percent of the wetlands that were present in the coterminous United States 

 at the time of European settlement. Information available from the U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service shows a loss rate of 290,000 acres a year from the mid-1 970's to 

 the mid-1 980's. From the mid-1 9S0's to the present, agricultural wetland losses have 

 declined significantly due to the enactment of the Swampbuster provision in the 1 985 

 Farm Bill. While this represents an improvement from the 450,000 acres we lost 

 annually from the 1950's to 1970's, it is still far more than the Nation can afford. 



The Consensus-Buildino Process _^ ^ 



The Interagency Working Group was formed in response to a specific request 

 to President Clinton from seven Senators. In addition, the President had received a 

 letter from twenty Members of the House, including five Members of this Committee, 

 citing problems with federal wetlands programs and calling on the Administration to 

 develop a "well thought-out and comprehensive proposal." The purpose of the 

 Working Group was to provide a forum to allow the appropriate federal agencies to 

 work together, with input from members of the Congress and the public, to develop 



