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Statement of Michael C. Houck 



on behalf of the 



Urban Streams Council, Tualatin, Oregon 



and the 



Coalition to Restore Urban Waters 



before the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee 



Subcommittee on Environment and Natural Resources 



Hearing on H.R. 4289, National Aquatic Ecosystem Act of 1994 



Chairman Studds and subcommittee members, I want to express my sincere appreciation 

 for the opportunity to provide testimony in support of H.R. 4289, the Waterways Restoration Act 

 of 1994. I appear before you today representing the national Coalition to Restore Urban Waters 

 (CRUW) as well as the Urban Streams Council, a program of The Wetlands Conservancy, 

 Tualatin, Oregon. The Coalition to Restore Urban Waters was established to focus attention on 

 the unique challenges and opportunities associated with the restoration of degraded urban aquatic 

 ecosystems and the communities which surround them. 



The Coalition to Restore Urban Waters was initiated by grassroots, citizen organizations to 

 solve the unique problems associated with degraded urban waterways. The coalition is 

 composed of groups from the Friends of The Chicago river (ID, the Minority Environmental 

 Association (OH and GA), the New York and New Jersey Baykeepers (NY and NJ), Lake 

 Ponchartrain Basin Foundation (LA), Urban Creeks Council of California (CA), Friends of the Los 

 Angeles River (CA), River Watch Network (VT), Adopt-A-Stream Foundation (WA), Friends of 

 Rivers (TX), Florida Lake Management Society (FL), Urban Streams Council (OR), Ecology/Racial 

 Justice (PA) and Huron River Watershed Council (Ml) and many more grassroots organizations 

 from throughout the country. 



We represent virtually every major metropolitan region in the United States. We have also 

 successfully formed partnerships with numerous federal, regional and state agencies and 

 professional organizations to pursue the restoration of aquatic ecosystems. Our partners include 

 the national Associations of State Floodplain and Wetland Managers; the National Park Service's 

 Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance Program; Soil Conservation Service, U S Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, U S Forest Service and the U S Environmental Protection 

 Agency. Participation in the development of H.R. 4289 is one of many issues which our 

 individual coalition members have worked on with our numerous partners for the past two years. 



Appended, for your information, is an article. Restoring Urban Waterways' , which will 

 provide you with an historical background of CRUW's formation and our involvement in the 

 development of H. R. 4289. Those of us involved in the formation of CRUW recognize that the 

 plight of our nation's aquatic ecosystems, both rural and urban, demand new solutions to address 

 the need to restore the nation's rivers, streams and wetlands, while simultaneously meeting the 

 needs of local communities and governmental agencies and jurisdictions. While we are focusing 

 on the unique needs of urban waterway restoration, we recognize the need to link the restoration 

 of urban and rural waterways if we are to successfully reverse the degradation of the nation's 

 waterways. I have also attached copies of CRUW's Initiatives for Urban Waterway Restoration 

 and Objectives of the Coalition's Programs which outlines our mission and goals. 



