13 



ic ecosystems, and a quiet anxiety about our ability to implement 

 it. 



I would like to congratulate the sponsors of this bill for the auda- 

 cious and epoch-making quality of their intention, and to wish you 

 all the best of luck in inventing forms which will demonstrate those 

 intentions in the thriving, healthy streams and waterways of North 

 America. 



Mr. Hochbrueckner. Thank you, Mr. House. And, by the way, 

 based on this article written by you, you really are, along with Mr. 

 Simpson, Mr. Mattole. So thank you. 



Mr. House. Thank you, sir. 



[The statement of Mr. House can be found at the end of the hear- 

 ing.] 



Mr. Hochbrueckner. At this point we will hear from Ms. Beth 

 Norcross from American Rivers. Ms. Norcross. 



STATEMENT OF BETH NORCROSS, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR, 

 AMERICAN RIVERS 



Ms. Norcross. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am Beth Norcross, 

 the legislative director of American Rivers, which is a national con- 

 servation organization dedicated to the protection and restoration 

 of America's rivers and streams. 



I will testify directly today on H.R. 4481, and have a few brief 

 words on H.R. 3873, but I would like to say at the outset that we 

 do support strongly the waterways restoration program bill, H.R. 

 4289, and commend Ms. Furse for introducing what we think will 

 be landmark legislation. 



We have had an opportunity to have some input into that legisla- 

 tion. I know you have been working very closely with our col- 

 leagues at the coalition to restore urban waters, and let there be 

 no doubt about it, these folks are doing the real work, the real en- 

 vironmental work one river at a time, and we appreciate that you 

 are working in the urban river field and also what will result, we 

 feel, in a very broad restoration effort under your bill. So thank you 

 for that. 



American Rivers also strongly supports H.R. 4481 and appre- 

 ciates Congressman Hamburg and Congressman Studds introduc- 

 ing this legislation. This, if passed intact, will have a dramatic ef- 

 fect and a long-standing effect on the restoration of the Nation's 

 waterways. 



While this bill addresses all aquatic resources, I will confine most 

 of my comments to the important effects this bill will have on 

 riverine systems. 



Rivers are essential, dynamic ecological systems, crucial to our 

 Nation's well-being. We all like to say at American Rivers the veins 

 and arteries of a continent. They transmit soil and minerals and 

 other nutrients and they serve as corridors for biological exchange 

 for the movement of wildlife. 



Rivers are also important environmental indicators and, unfortu- 

 nately, the indications are not so good right now. A third of all 

 freshwater fish species are imperiled. A recent report by the State 

 of Arizona stated that they had lost 90 percent of their low-ele- 

 vation riparian habitat. 



