
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 18, 1990                   TAG: 9003222327
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: F2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WETLANDS

GEORGE BUSH promised during the 1988 campaign that there would be no "net loss" of wetlands during his presidency. So far, it seems the bigger concern is that there be no net loss of political support from carrying out this pledge.

More than a year into the Bush first term, the nation still waits for a White House plan for saving wetlands. Meantime, ground is being lost in enforcing a program already in place from the Reagan era.

In 1987, the Farmers Home Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed on a model plan for wetlands protection at little cost. It provides for Fish and Wildlife review of farms taken over by FmHA, the lender of last resort to farmers. The former agency has reviewed more than 5,000 farms in FmHA hands and has proposed wetlands conservation easements on about 200,000 of 1.7 million acres.

In the past few months, FmHA has reduced the number of wetlands easements it has granted. It now seeks to alter the program to allow exceptions when farms are sold or leased back to their former owners. That could include up to 70 percent of the land the agency holds.

From 300,000 to 400,000 acres of U.S. wetlands - an area equal to about half the size of Rhode Island - are destroyed annually. The Interior Department, which includes the Fish and Wildlife Service, says that 87 percent of the total is drained farmlands. These are relatively easy to restore, so this category has great potential in fulfilling the no-net-loss pledge.

If FmHA's change in the 1987 program is approved, Interior Department sources predict a loss of more than a half-million acres of wetlands in the next few years. "It's a complete retreat," The Washington Post quoted one unidentified official as saying. "If we can't restore wetlands on federally owned agricultural lands, where can we restore them?"

Kelly Shipp, speaking for Agriculture Secretary Clayton Yeutter, said no final decision had been made. "We're going to uphold the president's commitment," she said, "but we have to ensure the viability of agriculture."

When Cabinet-level disputes cannot be resolved between departments, the president can take a hand. In this case, Bush can underscore both the validity of a campaign promise and his commitment to being "the environmental president."

For 1989, the League of Conservation Voters gave him A's for a number of actions, including breaking the logjam on the Clean Air Act. But his grades on several other environmental matters ranged from merely passing to failure. Here's his chance to improve the C he got on wetlands preservation.

by CNB