279 



is a basis for the Congressional judgment that the ac- 

 tivity regulatec has a substantial effect on interstate 

 commerce. Wickard v. Filhurn, 1942, 317 U.S. Ill, 125, 



63 S.Ct. 82, , 87 L.Ed. 122, 135. That this activity 



meets this test is hardly questioned."* In this time of 

 awakening to the reality that we cannot continue to 

 despoil our environment and yet exist,^ the nation 

 knows, if Courts do not, that the destruction of fish 

 and wildlife in our estuarine waters does have a sub- 

 stantial, and in some areas a devastating, effect on 

 interstate commerce. Landholders do not contend oth- 

 erwise. Nor is it challenged that dredge and fill projects 



^Landholders cite Weber v. State Harbor Comm'rs, 1873, 85 U.S. 

 (18 WalL) 65, 21 L.Ed. 798 and United States v. River Rouge 

 Improvement Co., 1926, 269 U.S. 411, 46 S.Ct. 144, 70 L.Ed. 

 339 as limiting the power of the Federal Government over 

 navigable waters to control for navigational purposes. Not siw- 

 prisingly, the narrow view these cases take of the commerce 

 clause is pre-United States v. Darby, 1941, 312 U.S. 100, 61 S.Ct 

 451, 85 L.Ed. 609. 



^Complete documentation of the concern over environmental prob- 

 lems would surely be voluminous, but it is indirectly evidenced 

 by the amount of very recent legal activity. See National En- 

 vironmental Policy Act of 1969. Pub. Law 91-190 (Jan. 1, 1970), 

 infra note 24; Our Waters and Wetlands: How the Corps of En- 

 gineers Can Help Prevent Their Destruction and Pollution^ H. 

 Rep. 91-917, 91st Cong., 2d Sess, March 18, 1970, infra text at 

 note 26; Executive Order 11507, Feb. 4, 1970, 38 L.W. 2436; 



United States v. Ray, 5 Cir., 1970, ■ F.2d [No. 27888, 



Jan. 22, 19701; E.B. Elliott Advertising Co. v. Hill, 5 Cir., 1970, 



F.2d [No. 27589, April 3, 1970]; Citizens Committee 



for the Hudson Valley v. Volpe, S.D.N.Y., 1969, 302 F. Supp. 



1083, affd, 2 Cir., 1970, F.2d [No. 428-33, April 



16, 1970]; National Advertising Co. v. Monterey, Calif., 1970, 



C^lif. Rptr [38 L.W. 2433, Jan. 30, 1970; MacGib- 



bon v. Duxbvuy Board of Appeals, Mass., 1970, NX.2d 



__ [38 L.W. 2429, Jan. 29, 1970]; California v. SS Bournemouth, 

 CJ>. C^aL, 1969, 307 F. Supp. 922; Creation of ABA Special 

 Committee on Environmental Quality, 15 Am. Bar News Na. 

 3, March 1970. 



