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Learn-Assess which wetlands are brought into public ownership, although that usually was not its specific intent; fre-quently wetlands are acquired because of their habitat, open space, or other value. Most states have now enacted legislation to protect wetlands; many of these states have found that the incremental loss of small wetland areas still results in an unacceptable cumulative loss. In response, they are acting to tighten existing wetland protection programs. A related measure is mitigation banking programs, which provide for the creation or enhancement of wet-lands at one site as compensation for damage that has or will occur to wet-lands as a result of development at another site. At least 10 mitigation banks were functioning in the United States as of 1986. Mitigation banking is only appropriate in certain situations and requires a great deal of administrative and planning effort, financial support, and commitment. Several thousand communities have acquired a portion of their flood-plains for parks, parkways, wildlife areas, conservation, agriculture, or other environmental or social uses. Some local jurisdictions have moved toward pro-grams to combine other community objectives with floodplain management, including open space, hiking, cycling, water quality, aquifer protection, wetlands protection, and the provision of fish and wildlife habitat. These multiobjective programs typically take two forms: greenway or river corridor projects and community redevelopment projects. The State and Local River Conservation Assistance Program, administered by the National Park Service, is the prin-cipal federal program for providing information, technical assistance, and limited funding for such river planning. The private sector, operating largely through private, nonprofit organi-zations, is heavily involved in acquiring land to protect it for open space and habitat, and much of that land is Page 33 of36