22 



Our written testimony provides just a few examples of projects 

 from California, Michigan, and New Jersey, where the Act has 

 been successfully used to conserve wetland habitats and the fauna 

 and flora that depend on them. 



While the genesis of the Act was in the North American Water- 

 fowl Management Plan, as you are aware, it is not just about 

 ducks. Waterfowl are beneficiaries of wetlands conservation but are 

 neither the only beneficiaries of the success of this Act nor its sole 

 focus. As you are aware, fish and shellfish, wading birds and 

 shorebirds, reptiles, amphibians, and threatened and endangered 

 species all benefit from enhanced wetlands habitats. The ancillary 

 benefits to man are also well-established. 



Council and staff are working now to see how other national 

 plans for shorebirds or other groups or guilds of species that may 

 require wetlands habitat can be more effectively overlaid with 

 needs identified under the North American Waterfowl Management 

 Plan. In this way we can improve the effectiveness of the applica- 

 tion of Act dollars to the conservation of high priority wetlands, 

 satisfying the greatest of wetland dependent species' needs. 



The Association would also like to recognize and commend both 

 the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission and the North Amer- 

 ican Wetlands Conservation Council on a job very well done. These 

 bodies are charged with the responsibilities of ensuring that the 

 projects approved by the Act are consistent with the Act and that 

 an appropriate distribution and diversity of wetland ecosystems are 

 secured, restored, and enhanced. 



The Act provides the necessary domestic and international flexi- 

 bility to ensure that the most appropriate wetland ecosystem man- 

 agement options are available. To be overly proscriptive would min- 

 imize its effectiveness from our perspective. There are few pro- 

 grams that can boast of their success like this one can. Members 

 of our association and the State fish and wildlife agencies are 

 pleased to be affiliated with the Act and support its reauthorization 

 and the gradual increasing of authorized funding levels over the 

 next five years. 



Thank you again for the opportunity to share our perspective 

 with you. 



Mr. Studds. Thank you very much, sir. 



[A statement written by R. Max Peterson, Executive Vice Presi- 

 dent of International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies can 

 be found at the end of the hearing.] 



Mr. Studds. Next, Mr. Michael Dennis, The Nature Conser- 

 vancy. Mr. Dennis. 



STATEMENT OF MICHAEL DENNIS, GENERAL COUNSEL, THE 

 NATURE CONSERVANCY 



Mr. Dennis. My name is Mike Dennis, General Counsel of The 

 Nature Conservancy, and also the Nature Conservancy's represent- 

 ative on the Council. 



I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak to you folks 

 today about the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. It is 

 an Act that is a program the Conservancy feels strongly about, and 

 it has been tremendously successful since its inception several 

 years ago. 



