Our wildlife refuges alone, however, cannot provide sufficient 

 habitat to support the millions of waterfowl which annually mi- 

 grate across America. Chairman Dingell and Congressman Conte 

 created the NAWCF to address this problem. Through their fore- 

 sight, great headway is now being made. 



The NAWCF is one of the most successful and cost-effective wet- 

 lands preservation initiatives in existence. The fund operates as a 

 public-private partnership, with Federal grant moneys being 

 matched, often at rates as high as 4 to 1 by private, State, and 

 local moneys. Since its inception in 1989, non-Federal partners 

 have matched roughly $100 million Federal dollars with over $200 

 million of their own resources. To date, the NAWCF has led to the 

 preservation, enhancement, or increased protection of almost 7 mil- 

 lion acres of prime wetlands habitat in North America. 



As successful as the fund has been, much more work still needs 

 to be done. The 1993 estimate of North America's breeding duck 

 population is 18 percent below the average of the last 40 years. For 

 certain species, the numbers are far worse. Mallard populations are 

 down 20 percent and the northern pintail population has declined 

 by one-half. 



Habitat loss has played a major role in the decline of these spe- 

 cies. Only through the continuation and expansion of programs 

 such as the NAWCF can we head off even greater losses. Some im- 

 portant States within the North America's migratory flyways have 

 yet to set aside critical wetland habitat under the program. My 

 own home State of Pennsylvania is one such State. 



Currently, I am working with three of our largest counties — 

 Chester, Montgomery, and Delaware — to ensure migratory bird 

 habitats within their boundaries are protected. The counties' par- 

 ticipation is made possible by the passage in Chester and Mont- 

 gomery counties of multimillion dollar open space bond acts. I am 

 working to ensure some of these funds, totaling over $150 million, 

 are used in combination with the North American Wetlands Con- 

 servation Fund moneys to create the first migratory bird habitat 

 protection projects in Pennsylvania. 



Mr. Chairman, I would like to again thank you for your support 

 and your leadership. I would like to thank Chairman Dingell again 

 for his continued role in making sure that this Congress is sen- 

 sitive to the issue of migratory bird habitat protection. I would also 

 like to thank our Ranking Member, Jack Fields, who has been a 

 tireless supporter of this effort. I want to ask unanimous consent 

 to insert his statement in the record, if that would be OK with the 

 Chairman, and also to thank our ranking Subcommittee member, 

 Mr. Saxton, for his strong leadership as well on this issue. 



Mr. Studds. Without objection, everyone is thanked. 



[The statement of Mr. Fields follows: 



Statement of Hon. Jack Fields, a U.S. Representative from Texas, and 

 Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries 



Mr. Chairman, you may recall that the North American Wetlands Conservation 

 Act was the idea of a good friend of ours, the late Silvio Conte of Massachusetts. 

 Enacted in 1989, the Act's purpose is to conserve wetland ecosystems and the spe- 

 cies that they support, primarily waterfowl. The Act also provides the financial as- 

 sistance necessary for the implementation of the North Ainerican Waterfowl Man- 

 agement Plan, an agreement originally signed in 1986 to reverse our continent's loss 



