From the Chair
Task Force Reports Wetlands Progress

By Douglas P. Wheeler
Chairman, California Biodiversity Council

Wetlands acreage is on the increase in California after many decades of destruction of this critical habitat type. It's no small accomplishment, especially in a state under great development pressure.

California's once shrinking acreage of functioning wetlands is making a comeback, having increased by at least 112,600 acres in less than four years. That's a substantial improvement and marks a reversal of land-use practices that obliterated 90 percent of California's historic wetland habitat.

Wetlands, once considered mere swamps to be drained and filled, are recognized today as essential habitat for nurturing and sustaining migratory birds, waterfowl, aquatic life, and many small animals. These creatures depend upon marshes, estuaries, and other wetlands for food, shelter, and breeding grounds.

Of California's historic 4.5 million acres of wetlands, only 450,000 acres remained in the early 1990s. The extent of the acreage was determined with the use of photography by the National Wetlands Inventory of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but the ecological value of these wetlands varies widely.

The 112,600 acres of new or improved wetlands fall within three categories:

• 91,400 acres of enhanced wetlands where increased ecological value has been realized from existing partially functioning wetlands;
• 21,089 acres of restored wetlands where new ecological value has been gained from past or highly degraded wetlands
• 145 acres of created wetlands where none existed previously.

In addition, more than 51,400 acres were acquired outright or protected through the purchase of conservation easements by public agencies or nonprofit organizations in the past four years. Only acres that have been restored or enhanced are counted as wetlands increases, and only a fraction of this acreage can be presently counted.

Also excluded are mitigation wetlands, which are acquired, restored, or enhanced to compensate for wetlands losses elsewhere, and unclassified wetlands whose nature and extent cannot be verified.

Cooperative Effort
In April, Governor Pete Wilson's Wetlands Task Force, which I co-chair with Cal/EPA Secretary Jim Strock, announced the wetlands gains. The progress is the result of a wide variety of successful programs and activities by numerous public, private, and nonprofit partners.

The acreage increases are documented in a Task Force report on the conservation of California's wetlands. The report is based on data obtained from dozens of public agencies and nonprofit groups and represents the most comprehensive attempt to accurately quantify the current amount of functioning wetlands in California.

For more information, visit our websites at http://www.ceres.ca.gov and its California Wetlands Information System at http://www.ceres.ca.gov/wetlands/

Our long term wetlands goals include a 50% increase in the quality, quantity, and permanence of wetlands in California, reducing regulatory complexities, and recruiting new wetlands partners.

A Foundation to Build Upon
We must make this record of success in wetlands protection the basis for even greater habitat gains in the future.

This can be done by using innovative conservation tools like the Southern California Wetlands Clearinghouse, and the Bay Area Mitigation Bank proposed in Governor Wilson's $12.9 million Coastal Initiative. The Initiative in the Governor's 1997-98 budget proposes $6.25 million for wetlands protection, including $5.75 million for a Southern California Wetlands Clearinghouse and $500,000 to develop prototype mitigation banks in the Bay. (Details on these proposals are available through CERES at: http://www.ceres.ca.gov/cra/PubInfo/budget97-98.html

Douglas P. Wheeler is California's Secretary for Resources