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1980 to $120 million in 1990. 



These losses highlight the need to restore our degraded aguatic 

 ecosystems. Perhaps our greatest needs include protecting and 

 restoring habitat for native flora and fauna, controlling non- 

 point source pollution, and enhancing the natural purification 

 capabilities of our aguatic ecosystems. A coordinated, national 

 approach is reguired to address these needs. 



Prior to 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 Wildlife 

 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. Each of these efforts have recognized 

 the necessity of restoring the affected resources, but they have 

 focused on local problems. The most successful programs are 

 those that received strong financial support and have developed 

 effective partnerships among Federal, State, local, and tribal 

 governments and the private sector. Still, Federal environmental 

 policy has not devoted sufficient attention to declining aquatic 

 ecosystems nationwide. For this reason, an aggressive, proactive 

 approach, such as that provided by H.R. 4481, is now needed. 



From our perspective, the introduction of H.R. 4481 is timely, as 



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