7377

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7377
• Author: Kusler, J. A. and S. Daly.
• Title: Wetlands and River Corridor Management.
• USFW Year: 1989.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

of the Nation's wetlands, as defined by acreage
and function." (See Table 3.) The Secretary is
to develop in cooperation with E.P.A. and the
Fish and Wildlife Service a "wetlands action
plan" to achieve these goals. The Secretary is
directed to carry out wetland restoration and
creation "demonstration projects", to carry out
a program to evaluate and demonstrate the use
of constructed wetlands for wastewater treat-
ment, to establish and implement a program for
determining the "feasibility" of mitigation
banks, and to establish a program for training
and certification of individuals as wetlands
delineators.
- Section 14 states that the Secretary "shall
not include in the benefit base for justifying
Federal flood reduction projects... (1) any new
or substantially reconstructed structure built
in the 100-year flood plain after July 2, 1991;
and (2) any structure that becomes located in
the the 100-year flood plain by virtue of
constrictions placed in the flood plain after
July 1, 1991."
At the executive and agency levels, a wide
variety of measures have been adopted which
contribute to this overall trend toward
multiobjective management. For example, President
Carter in 1977 issued Executive Order 11988,
Floodplain Management, and Executive Order 11990,
Protection of Wetlands, which require federal
agencies to generally avoid development in flood-
plains and wetlands and to mitigate impacts if the
development is unavoidable. In 1987, President
Bush in his budget message to Congress said that
he would establish a task force under the Domestic
Policy Council to "recommend ways to revise and
strengthen the current Presidential Executive
Order on wetlands protection. This will include
establishment of no net loss as a national goal
and clear direction to federal agencies to work
toward this goal to the extent feasible under
current law." A no net loss and a net gain goal
were proposed in a November 15, 1988 report by a
National Wetlands Policy Forum (National Wetlands
Policy Forum 1988) See Table 3. President Bush has
repeatedly endorsed the no net loss goal in this
and other contexts.
Table 3
NATIONAL WETLAND POLICY FORUM:
NATIONAL WETLAND GOALS
The National Wetlands Policy Forum in its final
report released November 15, 1988 stated the
following goals:
Interim Goal:
To achieve no overall net loss of the
nation's remaining wetlands base.
Long-term Goal:
To increase the quantity and quality of the
nation's wetlands resource base.
Many federal agencies have adopted program
plans incorporating this no net loss wetland goal.
This goal was incorporated in a Memorandum of
Agreement with regard to issuance of Section 404
permits for activities in wetlands and other
waters between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
and E.P.A. signed in February 1990 (M.O.A. 1990).
This agreement establishes a "sequencing"
procedure for projects proposed for wetland
locations and requires compensatory measures for
loss of wetland functions.
As noted above, based upon the recommendations
contained in House Document 465, agencies with
federal flood loss reduction responsibilities
prepared and adopted a Unified National Program
for Floodplain management in 1976 (U.S. Water
Resources Council 1976) which helped to establish
more specific goals for federal flood loss
reduction activities and protection of natural
values. This document and ensuring revisions
increasingly emphasize the "wise use" goal of
floodplain occupancy including the protection of
natural values. A status report by this task force
on the nation's floodplains has been in
preparation for several years and revisions in the
program document are expected in the near future.
(Johnston 1989). The federal agencies responsible
for flood loss reduction have implemented a broad
range of nonstructural programs in the last twenty
years such as floodplain mapping, flood warning
systems, and guidance on floodproofing. The Corps
of Engineers, Tennessee Valley Authority, and FEMA
have also undertaken or helped sponsor a number of
floodplain acquisition and/or relocation programs.
The National Park Service has undertaken or
sponsored statewide river surveys in a number of
states and has quite broadly assisted states,
local governments, and landowners form river
protection coalitions in many states. A
"riverbook" has been developed (National Park
Service, no date) and a case book on multi-
objective river corridor management is being
prepared (National Park Service, in press).
State Initiatives
State legislatures have adopted a broad range
of statutes contributing to multiobjective river
corridor management. These include the adoption by
at least 30 states of floodplain and/or floodway
regulatory permitting programs; the adoption by
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington State, Maine, and
Michigan of "shoreland zoning" regulatory statutes
(Kusler 1982), and the adoption by at 21 states of
scenic and wild river statutes.
All coastal states have adopted at some time
regulations for coastal and estuarine wetlands and
17 states have adopted regulations for freshwater
wetlands. Florida has adopted a special statute
creating a special council to help restore the
Kissimee River (Flor. Stat. Supp. 373.1965). A
restoration plan has been prepared and partial
restoration undertaken for some river segments
(Loftin 1990).
California is perhaps in the vanguard in
encouraging local multiobjective restoration in
river corridors through its adoption of an Urban
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