16 U.S.C. § 4401 : US Code - Section 4401: Findings and statement of purpose

Search 16 U.S.C. § 4401 : US Code - Section 4401: Findings and statement of purpose

(a) Findings
The Congress finds and declares that -
(1) the maintenance of healthy populations of migratory birds
in North America is dependent on the protection, restoration, and
management of wetland ecosystems and associated habitats in
Canada, as well as in the United States and Mexico;
(2) wetland ecosystems provide essential and significant
habitat for fish, shellfish, and other wildlife of commercial,
recreational, scientific, and aesthetic values;
(3) almost 35 per centum of all rare, threatened, and
endangered species of animals are dependent on wetland
ecosystems;
(4) wetland ecosystems provide substantial flood and storm
control values and can obviate the need for expensive manmade
control measures;
(5) wetland ecosystems make a significant contribution to water
availability and quality, recharging ground water, filtering
surface runoff, and providing waste treatment;
(6) wetland ecosystems provide aquatic areas important for
recreational and aesthetic purposes;
(7) more than 50 per centum of the original wetlands in the
United States alone have been lost;
(8) wetlands destruction, loss of nesting cover, and
degradation of migration and wintering habitat have contributed
to long-term downward trends in populations of migratory bird
species such as pintails, American bitterns, and black ducks;
(9) the migratory bird treaty obligations of the United States
with Canada, Mexico, and other countries require protection of
wetlands that are used by migratory birds for breeding,
wintering, or migration and are needed to achieve and to maintain
optimum population levels, distributions, and patterns of
migration;
(10) the 1988 amendments to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Act of 1980 require the Secretary of the Interior to identify
conservation measures to assure that nongame migratory bird
species do not reach the point at which measures of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 [16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.] are
necessary;
(11) protection of migratory birds and their habitats requires
long-term planning and the close cooperation and coordination of
management activities by Canada, Mexico, and the United States
within the framework of the 1916 and 1936 Migratory Bird
Conventions and the Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife
Preservation in the Western Hemisphere;
(12) the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, signed in
1986 by the Minister of Environment for Canada and the Secretary
of the Interior for the United States and in 1994 by the
Secretary of Sedesol for Mexico, provides a framework for
maintaining and restoring an adequate habitat base to ensure
perpetuation of populations of North American waterfowl and other
migratory bird species;
(13) a tripartite agreement signed in March 1988, by the
Director General for Ecological Conservation of Natural Resources
of Mexico, the Director of the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the
Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, provides
for expanded cooperative efforts in Mexico to conserve wetlands
for migratory birds that spend the winter there;
(14) the long-term conservation of migratory birds and habitat
for these species will require the coordinated action of
governments, private organizations, landowners, and other
citizens; and
(15) the treaty obligations of the United States under the
Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as
waterfowl habitat requires promotion of conservation and wise use
of wetlands.
(b) Purpose
The purposes of this chapter are to encourage partnership among
public agencies and other interests -
(1) to protect, enhance, restore, and manage an appropriate
distribution and diversity of wetland ecosystems and habitats
associated with wetland ecosystems and other fish and wildlife in
North America;
(2) to maintain current or improved distributions of wetland
associated migratory bird populations; and
(3) to sustain an abundance of waterfowl and other wetland
associated migratory birds consistent with the goals of the North
American Waterfowl Management Plan, the United States Shorebird
Conservation Plan, the North American Waterbird Conservation
Plan, the Partners In Flight Conservation Plans, and the
international obligations contained in the migratory bird
treaties and conventions and other agreements with Canada,
Mexico, and other countries.