Restore Nation’s Wetlands, Report Urges

The United States should not only halt the loss of environmentally precious wetlands, it should also begin a massive effort to restore millions of acres already damaged or destroyed, the prestigious National Research Council said Wednesday.

Without directly joining the furious controversy over the Bush Administration’s wetlands policy, a committee of wetlands and aquatic experts concluded its report on a two-year study by calling for restoration of about 10 million acres of wetlands, 400,000 miles of rivers and streams and 2 million acres of lakes.

Recommending establishment of a national trust fund, among other approaches, to finance the effort, committee Chairman John Cairns Jr. of Virginia Polytechnic Institute said that the restoration of wetlands and streams could be achieved in about 20 years.

A million acres of lakes could be restored by the turn of the century, he said, and the full 2 million acres could be returned to health “over the long term.”

While predicting that political hurdles would prove more formidable than technical problems, Cairns said that “after studying the question extensively, we believe that damaged or destroyed aquatic ecosystems can be restored.”

“Our message today is that doing so is scientifically realistic and desirable.”

It is estimated that the United States has lost half its wetlands over the last 200 years. Despite conservation efforts, they continue to be destroyed by urban development, highways and agricultural practices at the rate of 290,000 acres a year.

Although the rate of loss has been reduced, scientists and environmentalists are alarmed because wetlands provide rich habitat for aquatic wildlife, contribute to flood and erosion control and help recharge water supplies.

The National Research Council released its 485-page report as the Bush Administration moved closer to adopting controversial regulations that critics say will remove millions of acres of wetlands from federal protection.

Preparing to propose the new guidelines formally, the Administration earlier this year issued an updated manual for use in determining the boundaries of wetlands.

When the criteria were applied to 500 test sites nationwide, they were heatedly denounced as unworkable and unscientific by experts from the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Soil Conservation Service.

Although the White House at first prohibited release of the experts’ analyses, the Corps of Engineers is preparing to make public approximately 1,500 pages of the reports in Washington.

Officials of the Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday reviewed the language of the proposed regulations.

Perhaps the most volatile environmental issue President Bush will face in the coming election year, the wetlands controversy has been fueled by a perception that Bush is breaking a 1988 campaign promise to adopt a “no net loss” policy on wetlands management.