Plan to Increase Wetlands Unveiled : Conservation: Broad Wilson proposal would also give incentives for developers to preserve some areas while cutting red tape elsewhere. Clinton’s federal plan is expected today.

Gov. Pete Wilson announced a statewide plan Monday to increase the amount of wetlands in California by as much as half, while simultaneously making it easier for developers to obtain permission to build in some environmentally sensitive areas.

With many details unresolved and timing uncertain, Resources Secretary Douglas P. Wheeler described the broad policy as including restoration and purchase of some wetlands and incentives for private owners to preserve their wetlands.

At the same time, Wheeler said the plan seeks to reduce red tape for developers and farmers, a position underscored by support from the California Building Industry Assn. and California Farm Bureau.

“We will not only make clear our intention to protect the resource, we will also make clear our intention to find ways to reduce the regulatory burden,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler was joined at his news conference by a representative of a group established to protect waterfowl, and won tentative plaudits from some environmentalists.

The Clinton Administration is working on a national wetlands protection program, expected to be released today.

The federal policy is expected to put tougher restrictions on development of Alaskan wetlands while working out a compromise to help farmers by exempting some agricultural land. It also is expected to close loopholes for developers nationwide who are now able to avoid regulation when they build on small pieces of wetlands.

How the Clinton Administration’s plan will affect Wilson’s proposals was not immediately known.

An aide to Wheeler said the state plan would be implemented in part by executive order, though some provisions may require legislation or federal approval. The plan released Monday contains no timetable for implementing its provisions.

Wheeler said the governor also plans to support a $70-million bond measure to buy wetlands, but when such a measure might appear on the ballot has not been decided.

The plan will begin with an inventory of existing wetlands, Wheeler said. Once they are charted, a process that could take a year, planning groups around the state will figure out ways to protect the resources.

Whatever the acreage turns out to be, Wheeler said the state’s goal will be to increase wetlands by 30% to 50% by 2010.

The state policy calls for partnerships of state officials, environmentalists and developers to resolve disputes and formulate plans to help restore wetlands in Southern California and in other parts of the state.

The policy comes as Wilson struggles with several major environmental issues, such as limiting the effects on developers of laws protecting endangered species and protecting the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta while ensuring continued water deliveries to Southern California and Central Valley farmers.

The plan would cover all the state’s wetlands, from San Francisco Bay to Bolsa Chica in Huntington Beach, where the Koll Co. proposes to build 5,000 homes. But the plan released Monday does not specifically address resolving disagreements over development.

Glenn Olson of the National Audubon Society said a partnership between developers and environmentalists has helped create new nesting areas for waterfowl in the Central Valley. In Southern California, he said, it might open the way to revive long-dry rivers.

But Olson also was critical of the policy’s lack of specifics. “We’re really disappointed that he didn’t lay out specific goals for various regions of the state,” he said.

A key point of the plan is to redefine wetlands and pressure the federal government to adopt similar standards. What that definition might be is not spelled out.

Wetlands, which include bays, rivers, lakes and salt marshes, are rich habitats for birds and other wildlife. Complicating the task of protecting them, some wetlands appear only after heavy rains, or when larger than usual amounts of water are released from dams.

The George Bush Administration tried to redefine the meaning of wetlands, making it more narrow so that as much as half of California’s wetlands would no longer be protected. Wilson opposed the Bush plan because it would have eliminated protections.

Wilson’s plan says that landowners who are granted permission to build on wetlands would be allowed to if they buy credits in a “mitigation bank” to help restore other wetlands. Environmentalists are skeptical of the idea.

“That’s like saying: ‘We’ll destroy your Rembrandt, but we’ll paint you one that looks just as good,’ ” said Jackie McCort, the Sierra Club’s Pacific Coast wetlands coordinator.

State and federal officials say 91% of the original wetlands in California have disappeared.

Marshes are protected by federal Clean Water Act and state laws requiring that developers get permits before they fill in wetlands. In exchange, builders must create or restore new wetlands elsewhere.

The plan does not address cleanup of some important wetlands, such as Salton Sea, a badly polluted nesting ground for waterfowl.

Times staff writer Marla Cone contributed to this report.