§3901 Findings and statement of purpose

Summary

Promote conserving the Nation’s wetlands so they keep giving public benefits and to meet the United States’ migratory-bird treaty obligations with Canada, Mexico, Japan, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and countries in the Western Hemisphere. Wetlands support the economy, food and water supplies, flood and erosion control, and many plants and animals. They are vital for breeding and migration of birds and for fish and other wildlife. Wetlands help water quality and store floodwaters. They support a commercial marine harvest worth over $10,000,000,000 each year, a multimillion-dollar fur and hide harvest, and recreation that brings in billions of dollars annually. Wetlands are rare, once covered much more land, have been cut roughly in half in the contiguous States since the Nation began, and keep disappearing by hundreds of thousands of acres each year. Some federal actions have made losses worse, so cooperation must be strengthened. Increase cooperation among private groups and local, State, and Federal governments to manage and save wetlands. Also increase efforts to protect wetlands by buying land, securing easements, or using other methods by governments and the private sector.