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Wetlands

Challenge:

Our nation's wetlands are vitally important. They protect our homes and other property by controlling floods and buffering erosion. They maintain and enhance water quality by filtering pollution and sediment. They provide critical habitat to fish and wildlife and hunting and fishing opportunities for sportsmen and -women.

Unfortunately, America loses an average of 80,000 acres of natural wetlands a year to draining and development projects. This trend will continue and likely accelerate due to weakened federal protections for wetlands under the Clean Water Act. In recent years, Supreme Court decisions have stripped federal protections for geographically isolated wetlands and intermittent ephemeral streams. As a result, it is now easier for wetlands and other waters to be polluted, drained, filled in and paved over.

Strategy:

The TRCP is organizing the "We Are Wetlands" campaign with the long-term strategy of educating the general public about the importance of wetlands and their societal benefits. Kicked-off in April at the "Wetlands and Waterfowl Weekend" in Minneapolis, Minn., the campaign entails specific actions outlined below. Find out more about the "We Are Wetlands" campaign.

The Working Group on Wetlands is a gathering of representatives from the leading sportsmen and conservation organizations from around the country with the broadly defined goal of collaborating to promote wetlands protections on Capitol Hill and the general public. The TRCP is deeply involved in organizing the group's efforts.

Action:

As part of the "We Are Wetlands" campaign, the Petition to Save America's Wetlands is being circulated. To be delivered in early 2009, the petition asks the President of the United States to support strengthened federal protections for wetlands. The petition goal is 80,000 signatures to represent the 80,000 acres of natural wetlands lost a year in the U.S. To sign or learn more, go to www.wearewetlands.org.

The TRCP continues to support H.R. 2421 and S. 1870, the Clean Water Restoration Act, a bill in Congress that would restore federal wetlands protections to the level that was originally intended in the Clean Water Act. This legislation would clarify agency jurisdiction on which wetland areas to protect and slow the current trend of wetland loss in America.

For more information on the TRCP's wetlands initiative, contact Geoff Mullins, policy initiative manager.