The review team, representing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, reported on its review April 8. Findings were presented to FWS Regional Director Sam Marler and SCS State Conservationist Gary Nordstrom.
An earlier study released by the FWS Minnesota Waterfowl and Wetlands Complex, Fergus Falls, had suggested significant discrepancies between the SCS wetland maps and the wetland map products of the FWS. The interagency team found the FWS study to be invalid.
" The premature release of the FWS study resulted in unjust criticism of the Soil Conservation Services ability to administer wetland identification and protection programs," Marler said.
Based on the teams independent review, it was determined that the FWS had not requested the correct maps needed to make a valid comparison. Maps used in the FWS study contained incomplete wetland information. Further, the interagency team found the FWS study erroneously compared wetlands on noncropland areas with SCS maps that were designed to inventory wetlands in cropland areas only. As discovered during the review, use of any one map product out of context would lead to erroneous results.
"This review confirms that the Soil Conservation Service can be proud of the Federal leadership it is providing in the administration of farm programs that protect soil and wetland resources," Marler said. "I value the working relationship the Fish and Wildlife Service and the SCS have developed over the past several years and will do all I can to rebuild trust and cultivate an even more positive and productive partnership with the Soil Conservation Service at all levels."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
