News for Immediate Release
April 15, 2008
Contact: Geoff Mullins, (202) 654-4609, gmullins@trcp.org
Coalition Launches "We Are Wetlands" Campaign
Sportsmen's group launches drive to add 80,000 signatures — one for each acre of natural wetlands lost this year — to petition calling for restored national wetlands protections
WASHINGTON — With Congress confronting the loss of wetlands protections once provided in the Clean Water Act, a national coalition of conservationists is launching a major new grassroots campaign calling for the restoration of federal wetlands protections.
Recent years have seen a pair of complicated Supreme Court decisions effectively roll back the scope of the Clean Water Act, leaving more of the country's dwindling natural wetlands unprotected. In response, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is launching the "We Are Wetlands" campaign, designed to add 80,000 signatures — one for each acre of natural wetlands that will be lost this year — to the call for restored wetlands protections.
The TRCP marked the launch of the campaign near Minneapolis, Minn. at a rally that drew hundreds of sportsmen, along with elected officials and members of the media.
"With more than half of our natural wetlands already gone, we need a strong safety net for wetlands that stretches from coast-to-coast," said James D. Range, TRCP Chairman, who has worked on wetlands protection legislation — including the original Clean Water Act — for more than three decades. "Those who would destroy natural wetlands have widened loopholes in the Clean Water Act's fabric, meaning that our current safety net is letting critical resources fall through."
"When natural wetlands disappear, a lot of things disappear with them," said Geoff Mullins, TRCP wetlands initiative manager. "These include a lot of things sportsmen care about particularly deeply, like ducks, geese and fish, along with things that everyone cares about, like clean drinking water."
Hunters and anglers know firsthand the importance of wetlands," said TRCP President and CEO George Cooper. "We cannot allow the vital habitat, clean water and flood control functions that natural wetlands provide to continue to deteriorate. To do so would come at great public cost."
Greg Holyfield, who will be working to engage Southeastern sportsmen in the campaign, sees the protection of coastal marshes as a critical conservation need. "From the Chesapeake to the Carolinas to Florida to the bayou, there's a bunch of folks who know the value of a healthy back bays, marshes and swamps. We'll be making sure their elected officials hear their voices."
Tim Balzer, TRCP Upper Mississippi River Field Representative, will engage with hunters and anglers with an eye toward conserving the Prairie Pothole region. "At a time when climatic pressures are acute and habitat loss and fragmentation are proceeding at a record pace," he said, "we must expand the 'Duck Factory of North America.'"
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing in the coming days to explore issues surrounding wetlands loss. "Our fundamental hope is that our leaders are able to find a legislative solution that delivers a lasting, unassailable statement about the value of natural wetlands and the need to immediately stanch their loss," said Mullins. "Because when it comes to wetlands, we hunt 'em, fish 'em, eat 'em, drink 'em. In every way, we need 'em."
More details about the We Are Wetlands campaign are available at www.wearewetlands.org.
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.
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