E. WETLANDS - FIGURES 8 and 9 Rationale: Wetlands have been a focal point of environmental concern for many years now. The United States Army Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction over dredge and fill activities in most wetland areas of the United States under Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 and 1977, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued guidelines that are intended to prevent the conversion of wetlands to other uses. Wetland areas are extremely important habitat areas, both for marine and avian species. Although it is possible under existing federal statutes to convert wetlands, it is clear that the intent of Congress is to protect wetland areas. Therefore, wetlands are considered as absolute exclusion areas, and are shown in Figures 8 and 9. Reliability of the Data: While the intent of Congress may be clear, the spatial distribution of wetlands is more obscure. Wetlands may be marshes. swamps or ponded areas within farmlands or forests. At this time, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service is attempting to compile a comprehensive inventory of wetland areas, but this study is not complete. For this reason many smaller wetland areas are not included in Figures 8 and 9. A 1955 Department of the Interior publication titled "Wetlands of The United States" identified important wetlands in a very generalized fashion. This publication determined that there were 22,400,000 acres of wetlands of primary importance to waterfowl and 52,000,000 acres of wetlands of lesser importance. However, these areas could not be mapped with a sufficient degree of accuracy. Therefore, a need exists for additional information before this issue can be adequately addressed. The two maps presented in Figures 8 and 9 include only larger wetland systems, and these figures should be considered as conservative indications of the spatial coverage of wetland areas.
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