Before I speak to the vital importance to the Nation of working to pass S. 835 this session, let me introduce myself. My name is Linda Shead. I am the executive director of GBF, which is located in Galveston Bay, Texas and is a member supported, non-profit organization. Our mission is to restore and protect the Bay and its watershed.
I am also a member of the board of RAE, which is a coalition of eleven regional environmental organizations that devote a substantial part of their efforts to estuary protection and restoration.
GBF and RAE members unabashedly represent a very special interest -- the restoration and protection of this nation's coastal estuaries. These are resources that not only have high inherent aesthetic and "quality of life" values but also Unction as the heart of significant biological activity that has a direct connection to the human economy along the Nation's highly populated coastline. Our work, our mission is fundamentally about good stewardship and assuring strong and vibrant coastal communities.
The geographical sweep of the RAE alliance's focus is revealed most clearly by indicating where we are located:
-- Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware - Long Island Sound in Connecticut and New York
-- Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island and Massachusetts
-- The Gulf of Maine from Cape Cod Bay to the Bay of Fundy
-- The Hudson/Raritan estuary complex in New York and New Jersey
-- The North Carolina coast
-- Tampa Bay in Florida
-- Coastal Louisiana
-- Galveston Bay in Texas
-- San Francisco Bay in California, and
-- Puget Sound in Washington State.
This geographical listing, however, or the combined 250,000 members of our organizations are simply the tip of the resource we are speaking for: RAE stands for a national effort to champion estuary habitat restoration and protection wherever those resources are located and whoever is working on them.
Our organizations have in some cases been working to restore and preserve our estuaries for 35 years or more. We have pledged collectively to restore at least one million acres of habitat in our nation's estuaries by the year 2010. And the need for action is great.
The vital importance and historical losses of the Nation's coastal estuary resources are well documented. Estuarine habitat provides food, shelter, resting areas and breeding areas for thousands of species of flora and fauna. Without these habitats, estuaries would be virtually dead and the vibrancy they provide to so many of our coastal communities ended.
Along the Gulf Coast, habitat is still being lost, and in the estuary I know best, Galveston Bay, we've lost more than 30,000 acres of marsh habitat in the last 40 years alone. In addition, only 700 acres of seagrasses remain. In Galveston Bay, diverse users, such as the petrochemical industry, environmentalists, commercial and recreational fishers, recreational boaters, and commercial navigation interests, have realized the importance of establishing habitat and are working together to restore and protect the Bay. We have had some successes, but the losses are great and they continue. These losses have dire consequences for our environment, our economy, our way of life, and our health.
Estuaries around the country have lost varying degrees of habitat and biological function. For example, 70 percent of the eel grass beds, and 50 percent of the salt marshes around Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island have been lost due to human activity, and the Hudson Raritan Bay area in lower New York Harbor has lost over 80 percent of its original wetlands. In the Chesapeake Bay the oyster harvest collapsed from 25 million pounds in 1959 to only a million pounds in 1989. And of course, the Wisteria crisis is now well known to everyone. In the Long Island Sound more than 40 percent of the wetlands are gone. The story continues on west coast. San Francisco Bay has lost 95 percent of its original marshland.
Additionally, and sadly, tens of thousands more acres of estuarine habitat continue to be destroyed each year. Habitat that is the life blood of 75 percent of all commercial fish species, and the 28 million jobs that depend on healthy, vibrant estuaries.
These are astounding statistics. They demand action. Fortunately we still have time to act. We need to start now and turn the tide on this devastating trend and actually foster the rebirth of our estuaries and their critical wetlands. And we believe S. 835 is an essential part of any coordinated and effective plan of action.
In some cases, the losses are irretrievable and we simply need to proceed with a heightened resolve to prevent or minimize further future losses of coastal estuary habitat. I would emphasize that Senator Chafee's habitat restoration legislation is simply one critical piece of the legislative and policy equation that must include a strong Clean Water Act and a rejuvenated National Estuary Program if we are to ever get ahead of the curve in stemming coastal resources losses and degradation.
Where S. 835 can play a vital role is in helping provide the leadership and resources needed to restore earlier damage to estuary habitats that can be fully or partially reversed. S. 835 will allow the Nation's coastal regions to seize restoration opportunities which must be acted on if the biological productivity of the Nation's coastline is to begin to recover.
Without spending too much time on the specifics of the legislation, let me highlight why S. 835 will serve as a national catalyst for helping restore our Nation's Estuary habitat. Once up and running, it is designed to:
Infuse limited new federal resources that will leverage local resources and commitment sufficient to help our communities achieve an actual increase of one million acres of habitat by 2010.
Give our communities and our organizations a real voice in the selection process because restoration projects will be driven from the community up through voluntary efforts that build effective public-private partnerships.
Look to watershed based planning efforts and build on existing plans such as the comprehensive plans we've worked to develop as part of the NEP. There's no reinventing of the wheel here, just a focused effort to make good use of good planning and get to work restoring critical estuary habitat.
Build a peer review process that will assure that only the most deserving projects are selected.
Help build a new level of streamlining and coordination among federal programs and agencies. The importance of accomplishing this task is highlighted by a report
RAE released last year on Federal funding for habitat restoration which identified over 65 programs scattered over 7 different agencies. S.835 would help us much better coordinate and increase the on-the-ground impact of these many programs.
RAE also supports S. 835's choice to fund this work through an inter-agency effort led by the Army Corps of Engineers. Many RAE members have long histories of strong disagreement with the Corps. At the same time, we also recognize that in recent years the Corps has started to try and change course and work to restore habitat in partnership with other federal agencies, state and local government and our communities.
We believe that S. 835 will be an important part of helping lock in -- and advance -this real and important change in the stated goals of the Corps and in the way it does business. The bill takes the Corps at its word and then builds a strong collaborative process of project selection and work that will assure that funds are used to implement real restoration in all of the Nation's estuaries.
It is through these mechanisms, and the interest they've generated that S. 835 is already helping us focus attention on restoration, focus attention on the critical need to bring new resources and dedication to the conservation of our nation's estuaries. The bill's bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate and the House speak to this growing awareness of the need to act now and move on this legislation. So does the strong support the bill has received from our colleagues in the environmental community, the sporting industry, business and our state and local governments.
RAE members are committed to helping you move forward with S. 835, and get it enacted into law this year. The bill is a vital component of our efforts to bring back healthy conditions not only in Galveston Bay, but in Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound, Puget Sound, and the other estuaries that make up one of this Nation's most precious resources.
Galveston Bay is my home. Even if we live miles from it's shore, it is part of what makes our whole region special. The bay is our lifeline. It nourishes our environment, strengthens our economy, enhances our leisure time, protects our children's futures. We need to care for the bay and invest today in its health and very survival. We need to do the same in all of the Nation's estuaries. S. 835 helps us accomplish this vital task and helps us ensure a secure and bountiful future for our country.
On behalf of all of the RAE membership, I want to thank Senator Chafee and the members of this committee for their vision and leadership in working to help us protect and restore our nation's estuaries. RAE members looks forward to working with you to move this important legislation forward and turn a very good bill into very good law. Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you.