Feel free to add some local information or to edit as you wish. The idea is to start getting this issue in more papers and making it as easy as possible for you to get coverage on this issue. Unfortunately, while citizens are working to save wetlands from destruction, the Clinton Administration seems to be of two minds on how to care for these important resources. On the one hand, the Clinton Clean Water Action Plan, the details of which will be released later this month, specifically calls for a net gain of 100,000 acres of wetlands per year by 2005. On the other hand, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has drafted a new proposal that will open up thousands more acres of sensitive lands for development.
Wetlands are some of America's most valuable natural resources.
We know that wetlands are crucial to our ability to maintain clean water for drinking, fishing and swimming. Wetlands naturally filter water before it goes into our streams, rivers, bays and other waterways. They help prevent flooding and offer unique natural habitat for many kinds of wildlife including birds and fish. For a developer to fill a wetland, the Clean Water Act requires that he or she obtain a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. While some of these nationwide permits are reasonable, several of them result in large losses of our remaining wetlands.