also the young Turks of the future and that Ms. Beattie fits into 

 that catesrorv? 



Mr. Studds. Oh, absolutely. Yes. This is a matter that could eas- 

 ily get out of hand, however. 



Mr. HOCHBRUECKNER. [Presiding.] Thank you, Mr. Chairman, 

 and I welcome the first panel, and as you know, the Subcommittee 

 rules are five minutes of presentation. We look forward to your 

 input. The Chair now recognizes Ms. Beattie. 



STATEMENT OF MOLLIE BEATTIE, DIRECTOR, U.S. FISH AND 

 WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR 



Ms. Beattie. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am very glad to be 

 here today to testify on behalf of the Department of Interior and 

 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concerning H.R. 4481, the Na- 

 tional Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Act of 1994. 



I commend Mr. Hamburg and the other cosponsors of the bill for 

 their insight in recognizing the importance of restoring our Na- 

 tion's degraded aquatic ecosystems. 



As you know, degradation of the Nation's aquatic ecosystems and 

 loss of aquatic biodiversity have reached critical levels. Entire hy- 

 drologic systems and natural diversity of all forms of aquatic ripar- 

 ian systems are at risk. 



For example, the EPA estimates that nearly one-fourth of our 

 Nation's 3.25 million miles of streams are affected by municipal or 

 industrial effluents. We have destroyed roughly 117 million acres 

 of wetlands since the late 18th century. Nearly half of the animals 

 on the Federal list of threatened and endangered species are aquat- 

 ic. 



The decline of Atlantic Coast striped bass populations alone cost 

 an estimated 7,500 jobs and $220 million between 1974 and 1980, 

 and the commercial harvest of Pacific salmon in Washington, Or- 

 egon, and California dropped from $200 million in 1980 to $120 

 million in 1990. 



These losses highlight the need to restore our degraded aquatic 

 ecosystems. Perhaps our greatest needs include protecting and re- 

 storing habitat for native flora and fauna, controlling nonpoint 

 source pollution, and enhancing the natural purification capabili- 

 ties of our aquatic ecosystems. 



Prior to the introduction of H.R. 4481, Congress addressed the 

 need for aquatic ecosystem restoration by passing a variety of 

 basin-specific legislation such as the Great Lakes Fish and Wild 

 Life Restoration Act, the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, 

 the New England Fishery Resources Restoration Act, the Klamath 

 River Basin Fishery Resources Restoration Act, and the Lake 

 Champlain Special Designation Act. 



These efforts have recognized the necessity of restoring the af- 

 fected resources, but they have focused on localized problems. The 

 more successful of these have received strong financial support and 

 have developed effective partnerships among Federal, State, local, 

 and tribal governments and the private sector and take a holistic 

 approach to restoration. 



Still, Federal environmental policy has not devoted sufficient na- 

 tionwide attention to restoring declining aquatic ecosystems. For 



