[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 134 (Wednesday, September 30, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11191-S11193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               WETLANDS WILDLIFE ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 1998

  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, on behalf of the majority leader, I ask 
unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of 
S. 1677, as under the previously agreed unanimous consent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1677) to reauthorize the North American Wetlands 
     Conservation Act and the Partnerships for Wildlife Act.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceed to consider the bill.


                           Amendment No. 3673

    (Purpose: To designate a member of the North American Wetlands 
 Conservation Council and to require the Secretary of the Interior to 
    publish a policy for making certain appointments to the Council)

  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, Senator Chafee has an amendment at the 
desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Alabama (Mr. Shelby), for Mr. Chafee, 
     proposes an amendment numbered 3673.

  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of 
the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       On page 2, after line 19, add the following:

     SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP OF THE NORTH AMERICAN WETLANDS 
                   CONSERVATION COUNCIL.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding section 4(a)(1)(D) of the 
     North American Wetlands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 
     4403(a)(1)(D)), during the period of 1999 through 2002, the 
     membership of the North American Wetlands Conservation 
     Council under section 4(a)(1)(D) of that Act shall consist 
     of--
       (1) 1 individual who shall be the Group Manager for 
     Conservation Programs of Ducks Unlimited, Inc. and who shall 
     serve for 1 term of 3 years beginning in 1999; and
       (2) 2 individuals who shall be appointed by the Secretary 
     of the Interior in accordance with section 4 of that Act and 
     who shall each represent a different organization described 
     in section 4(a)(1)(D) of that Act.
       (b) Publication of Policy.--Not later than June 30, 1999, 
     the Secretary of the Interior shall publish in the Federal 
     Register, after notice and opportunity for public comment, a 
     policy for making appointments under section 4(a)(1)(D) of 
     the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 
     4403(a)(1)(D)).

  Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I am pleased to have an opportunity to 
talk about S. 1677, the Wetlands and Wildlife Enhancement Act of 1998. 
This bill will reauthorize the North American Wetlands Conservation Act 
(NAWCA)--a law that has played a central role in the conservation of 
wetlands habitat across the continent.
  I am joined by 58 of my colleagues from 42 states in sponsoring S. 
1677. There are 35 Republican cosponsors and 23 Democrat cosponsors. 
This tremendous showing of bipartisan support is a tribute to one of 
the great success stories in wildlife conservation. NAWCA has helped to 
bring about the recovery of more than 30 species of ducks, geese, and 
other waterfowl and migratory birds from their lowest population 
numbers just 12 years ago to some of their highest population numbers 
this year.
  Why was NAWCA originally enacted? In the early 1980's, we were 
alarmed to discover that populations of duck and other waterfowl had 
plummeted precipitously. The numbers were stark: in only ten years, 
breeding populations of ducks fell an average of 31 percent, with some 
species declining by as much as 61 percent. This decline was due to 
several factors, including loss of habitat and an extended drought in 
many parts of the U.S.
  In 1986, the U.S. and Canada worked cooperatively to develop the 
North American Waterfowl Management Plan. Mexico joined the plan in 
1994, so that the entire continent now participates in this effort. The 
Plan established ambitious goals and innovative strategies for 
conserving waterfowl habitat.
  Under the leadership of Senator George Mitchell, Congress approved 
NAWCA in 1989, primarily as a vehicle to implement the Plan. The law 
provides a permanent funding source for wetlands conservation projects, 
many of which fall under the auspices of the plan.
  These sources include Federal appropriations, interest generated from 
short-term investments on the Pitman-Robertson Fund, money from the 
Wallop-Breaux Fund, and fines collected under the Migratory Bird Treaty 
Act. All told, NAWCA received $43 million this past year, of which 
$11.7 million was appropriated.
  Since NAWCA's inception, 575 projects involving more than 800 
partners have received $240 million in Federal funds under NAWCA, 
matched by more than $360 million in non-Federal funds. These projects 
have covered about 3.8 million acres throughout the continent.
  These numbers are impressive, but in the scheme of things, NAWCA is a 
relatively modest law. Even so, it enjoys broad support. This is 
because, quite simply, NAWCA works. In fact, it works so well that it 
should serve as a model for other environmental laws. I would like to 
outline what I believe are the four components of its success--and 
thus, it popularity.
  1. NAWCA focuses on habitat conservation as the key to saving 
species.
  Ducks and other waterfowl are extraordinarily dependent on climate. 
They need wet weather to thrive. During years of drought, waterfowl 
populations dwindle. If their habitat vanishes as well, waterfowl 
populations do not stand a chance of rebounding when the rains return.
  The beauty of NAWCA is that it seeks to protect the habitat itself, 
whether the waterfowl are there or not. That way, when the rains come 
and the waterfowl return, the habitat is waiting for them. Thus, 
habitat conservation is the means to achieve the end of waterfowl 
protection. If waterfowl--or any other creatures threatened with 
population decline or extinction--are going to survive, they must have 
available habitat capable of sustaining them.
  In focusing on wetlands habitat, NAWCA reaches far beyond waterfowl 
species. Also sharing the same habitat are migratory birds, raptors, 
songbirds, shorebirds, and even black bears, otters, and other mammals. 
Among these

[[Page S11192]]

species, the habitat is the common currency--protect the habitat and 
you protect all of them.

  Professor E.O. Wilson has said,

       When a natural ecosystem, say a forest remnant or a 
     freshwater stream, is protected to save a particular species, 
     an umbrella is thrown over hundreds or thousands of other 
     species . . . [and,] the great panoply of lesser known, often 
     unknown, and frequently invisible organisms are what sustain 
     natural environments.

  This is a basic principle of biology. However, NAWCA has transformed 
this principle into design. Let me read from the 1989 Senate Committee 
Report on the original NAWCA:

       One of the purposes of this legislation . . . is to broaden 
     the focus of [the North American Waterfowl Management] Plan 
     with respect to conservation of wetland ecosystems and the 
     other migratory birds and other fish and wildlife dependent 
     thereon.

  This purpose was further reinforced in 1994, when the plan was 
amended to explicitly consider the needs of migratory birds when 
developing projects.
  2. NAWCA makes use of coordinated, comprehensive, continent-wide 
planning to achieve its wetlands conservation goals.
  It is important to protect habitat, but the key is knowing which land 
to protect. This is where the North American Waterfowl Management Plan 
comes in. Without the Plan, NAWCA would be just another grants program, 
giving money to worthy projects for a worthy cause, but without any 
sense of the whole picture. The Plan identifies broad goals and 
strategies for recovering waterfowl populations across North America. 
Ten joint ventures across all four flyways have been formed to refine 
the goals and strategies for their specific regions. The joint ventures 
also coordinate projects to conserve wetlands.
  Partnerships among Federal, State, conservation groups, and 
landowners--big or small--form to develop projects and submit proposals 
for Federal matching money under NAWCA. The proposals are then reviewed 
by the North American Wetlands Conservation Council, which makes 
recommendations to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, which 
then approves the funding. The Council consists of nine members, as 
follows: the Director of the Service; the Secretary of the Board for 
the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; four directors of State and 
wildlife agencies, one from each of the four flyways; and three 
representatives of charitable and nonprofit organizations actively 
participating in wetlands conservation projects. The State agency 
directors and the representatives of charitable and nonprofit 
organizations are appointed by the Secretary for three-year terms.
  Thus, the plan and act work in concert with one another, beginning 
with broad planning guidelines for the entire continent, and ending 
with individual projects for protecting and managing specific acres in 
our very communities.
  A perfect example of this holistic approach is an initiative in the 
Mississippi Alluvial Valley, which stretches from the mouth of the 
Mississippi River up into Tennessee. This is where the cutting edge of 
conservation planning is taking place. Through modern satellite imagery 
and GIS technology, habitat types can be identified and mapped. This 
ecological mapping is then compared with land ownership, giving 
Federal, State, and local governments, as well as private owners, an 
idea of the most important lands to conserve. The result? Areas of 
habitat fragmentation can be pinpointed, and reforestation and wetlands 
restoration can be targeted to meet the needs of sensitive and 
declining species.
  3. NAWCA relies on public-private partnerships to achieve its 
wetlands conservation goals.
  The partners are a big reason for NAWCA's success. Instead of the 
heavy hand of government regulation, NAWCA's wetlands conservation 
goals are achieved by voluntary cooperative partnerships involving very 
diverse people and organizations--businesses, nonprofit environmental 
groups, hunters, farmers, state, tribal, and local governments, and of 
course the federal government. Under the auspices of NAWCA, people and 
groups with widely divergent, often opposing points of view have found 
common ground in wetlands. The kind of cooperation that NAWCA has 
engendered is heartening indeed. Through this work to achieve the goals 
of the plan, a broad array of people have had the opportunity to 
develop a deep and abiding appreciation of wetlands and the need to 
protect them.
  None has contributed to the program more than Ducks Unlimited, nor 
has anyone been more vital to its success. That organization alone has 
contributed in total about $20 million to the projects in the U.S., and 
about another $60 million to projects in Canada and Mexico. The Nature 
Conservancy has also been a tremendous supporter of the program, 
contributing $17 million to projects in the U.S. and another $4 million 
to projects in Canada. However, these groups do more than raise money. 
They educate landowners, coordinate partnerships, and give the program 
the exposure it deserves. Because DU plays such an important role, we 
are amending S. 1677 to place them on the Council for one additional 
term of 3 years, while at the same time requiring the Service to 
develop a policy, subject to notice and comment rulemaking procedures, 
to develop a fair and formal process for making future appointments to 
the Council. I expect the Service to balance the policy between groups 
such as DU and TNC, whose support is invaluable, and between other 
groups that might be smaller but who bring new ideas and new forms of 
participation to the program.
  NAWCA has also reached out to private landowners across the 
continent--small, family owned farms, large developers, and private 
individuals. In my own State of Rhode Island, it is private individuals 
who have made the difference for some of the best remaining waterfowl 
habitat in the state, in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy and 
State and Federal government agencies. We have a phased restoration in 
progress to rectify years of damage as a result of dredge spoil 
deposited along a tidal channel, poorly planned road construction, and 
a recent oil spill. In Phase I of the South Shore Habitat Protection 
project, Mr. Oliver Hazard donated an 80 acre tract of land to The 
Nature Conservancy valued at $900,000. In Phase II, William Viall 
donated 110 acres valued at $640,000 to the town of North Kingston.
  On the opposite side of the continent, it was a partnership among two 
State agencies, the Metropolitan Services District of Portland, several 
national and local conservation groups, and a local dairy farmer, E.F. 
Steinborn, who collaborated to restore 500 acress within the Tualatin 
River Floodplain near Portland, Oregon. The project converted a large 
dairy farm to seasonal and permanent wetlands providing habitat for 
thousands of waterfowl, shorebirds, and songbirds, complementing 
wetlands on the adjacent refuge. The project--located on the outskirts 
of Portland--is a wonderful example of how we can reclaim lands for 
conservation before they get swallowed up by urban expansion.
  Another example is an area in Swan Lake basin, located in a wildlife 
refuge in the San Joaquin valley of California. Swan Lake basin was a 
dry channeled area, but with NAWCA funds and four months of restoration 
work it has been transformed into a lake with free-flowing drainage. 
The area now provides nesting and resting groups for hundreds of white 
pelicans, as well as double-crested comorants, grebes, 8,000 canvasback 
ducks, 6,000 northern shovelers, and 40,000 gadwalls.
  The benefits of these partnerships go far beyond specific projects, 
however. They facilitate the flow of ideas and innovations across 
borders. Only in the last decade, for example, has Canada begun to use 
conservation easements and servitudes to protect land from development. 
Legislation within the provinces has been enacted to broaden the use of 
this valuable tool for conservation. It is without doubt that the 
partnerships under NAWCA have stimulated this awareness and can take 
part of the credit for these new developments in Canada.

  Here is a case where the United States, Canada and Mexico have come 
together to identify a common need. Consider just one NAWCA site in 
Quill Lake, Canada. Banding data reveal that waterfowl using that site 
have visited other NAWCA sites, represented by the blue circles, all 
across the continent. Imagine the synergies of all NAWCA projects 
helping each other. And, by enacting NAWCA, the United

[[Page S11193]]

States has lead the way in providing a reliable funding structure to 
address it. We have been able to turn good international intentions 
into superlative international action.
  4. NAWCA leverages federal dollars with private funds for wetlands 
conservation.
  We all know how tight the federal budget is. Innovative funding 
mechanisms are the best hope for ensuring the viability of important 
environmental programs. The North American Wetlands Conservation Fund, 
which was established by NAWCA, provides grant money with a matching 
requirement to leverage each federal dollar. In fact, the ratio of 
NAWCA funds to contributions from other partners usually approaches 
1:2.
  Now let me inject a word of caution. We cannot afford complacency. 
NAWCA has been a success, but part of the credit for the recovery of 
waterfowl species has to go to the heavy rains we've had in the past 
few years. This year is drier than it has been in the past. Already, 
duck counts are leveling off. In drier conditions, the need to conserve 
duck habitat is ever more urgent.
  And this urgent need to conserve wetlands is in direct competition 
with severe development pressures on wetlands. By the year 2020, more 
than half of the U.S. population will live in coastal plains. Laws like 
NAWCA will become ever more important in protecting these fragile 
areas.
  The proper tribute to the success of NAWCA is to let it inspire us to 
do more. Let us reauthorize this fine bill. Let us ensure it is 
adequately funded. Let us support the other important laws that protect 
wetlands--such as Swampbuster and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. 
And most of all, let us build on the strengths of NAWCA in all our 
environmental protection endeavors. Again, those strengths are:
  1. Focus on conserving habitat.
  2. Use a comprehensive plan--continent-wide, if possible.
  3. Rely on public-private partnerships--both national and 
international.
  4. Leverage federal dollars with private funds.
  I exhort my colleagues to support S. 1677, and reauthorize the very 
worthy North American Wetlands Conservation Act. I thank the Chair.
  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment 
be agreed to, that all time be yielded and the bill be read a third 
time, and passed, with the motion to reconsider laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 3673) was agreed to.
  The bill (S. 1677), as amended, was passed, as follows:

                                S. 1677

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Wetlands and Wildlife 
     Enhancement Act of 1998''.

     SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF NORTH AMERICAN WETLANDS 
                   CONSERVATION ACT.

       Section 7(c) of the North American Wetlands Conservation 
     Act (16 U.S.C. 4406(c)) is amended by striking ``not to 
     exceed'' and all that follows and inserting ``not to exceed 
     $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1999 through 2003.''.

     SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF PARTNERSHIPS FOR WILDLIFE ACT.

       Section 7105(h) of the Partnerships for Wildlife Act (16 
     U.S.C. 3744(h)) is amended by striking ``for each of fiscal 
     years'' and all that follows and inserting ``not to exceed 
     $6,250,000 for each of fiscal years 1999 through 2003.''.

     SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP OF THE NORTH AMERICAN WETLANDS 
                   CONSERVATION COUNCIL.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding section 4(a)(1)(D) of the 
     North American Wetlands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 
     4403(a)(1)(D)), during the period of 1999 through 2002, the 
     membership of the North American Wetlands Conservation 
     Council under section 4(a)(1)(D) of that Act shall consist 
     of--
       (1) 1 individual who shall be the Group Manager for 
     Conservation Programs of Ducks Unlimited, Inc. and who shall 
     serve for 1 term of 3 years beginning in 1999; and
       (2) 2 individuals who shall be appointed by the Secretary 
     of the Interior in accordance with section 4 of that Act and 
     who shall each represent a different organization described 
     in section 4(a)(1)(D) of that Act.
       (b) Publication of Policy.--Not later than June 30, 1999, 
     the Secretary of the Interior shall publish in the Federal 
     Register, after notice and opportunity for public comment, a 
     policy for making appointments under section 4(a)(1)(D) of 
     the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 
     4403(a)(1)(D)).

                          ____________________