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losses on agricultural lands.
Forestry activities, if improperly conducted, can also greatly impact wetlands. Since most of Virginia’s non-tidal wetlands are forested, a biD currently before the legislature would prescribe Best Management Practices (BMPs) developed and overseen by the State Forestry Department.
Virginia must do much more, however, to protect its wetlands.
Federal protection of these resources — under section 404 of the Clean Water Act, administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — is limited. Exemptions to the 404 program allow a number of activities to occur that can destroy w etlands.
Moreover, despite their immense value in the Bay region, there is no state protection program for non-tidal wetlands in Virginia. Although some agencies have programs that affect non-tidal wetlands, no state agency is specifically empowered to protect them. Yet, fourteen other states have their own non-tidal wetlands protection programs.
About two-thirds of all of Virginia’s non-tidal wetlands exist in the Coastal Plain, a region that is experiencing some of the most intense development in the state. It is also where a large percentage of historical wetlands loss has occurred.
There is good news to report about the fight to save the Old Dominion’s wetlands, however. Gov. Baliles and his counterparts in Maryland, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia signed the historic new Chesapeake Bay Agreement in December 1987 that pledges “to develop a Bay-wide policy for the protection of tidal and non-tidal wetlands by December 1988.” A 1987 report by Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay Land Use Roundtable, a working group of various public and private representatives, concluded “The importance of non-tidal wetlands in Virginia needs to be recognized and a legislative initiative developed to preserve them.”
Legislation to protect non-tidal wetlands was introduced during the 1988 General Assembly session as part of Gov. Baliles’ legislative priorities package for the Bay. The legislation minimizes the loss and destruction of non-tidal wetlands but does not prohibit necessary activities in wetland areas.
A conservative approach was applied in defining “wetlands” — all three of the listed characteristics must be present at a given site — that significantly narrows the number of areas that could be classified as wetlands under the legislation. The bill passed the House of Delegates by an overwhelming margin. A Senate subcommittee has been appointed to study the bill for the coming year in time for the 1989 legislative session.
These encouraging developments come not a moment too soon. .Given their immense value and proven vulnerability to development, farming and other human activities, non-tidal wetlands are in desperate need of our help. We must act now to protect and preserve them if we want to help save the Bay.
Mr. Snead is staff scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
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