Walter B. Jones: “I rise tonight to talk about our Nation's wetlands and a bill I have introduced to protect and expand these national…”

“I rise tonight to talk about our Nation's wetlands and a bill I have introduced to protect and expand these national treasures. I represent a district in eastern North Carolina which includes a majority of the State's coast and 4 major river basins. According to the Federal Government, 65 percent of the area can be classified as wetlands. Clearly wetlands are very important to me and to the citizens of my district. Eastern North Carolina appreciates the beauty and value of wetlands as much if not more than anybody else. They understand the importance of wetlands to the environment, to water quality and to the life they support. Eastern North Carolinians also want to respect the rights of property owners, and therefore have reached for a balanced approach to protecting our wetlands while allowing landowners to have reasonable use of their properties. Mr. Speaker, I strongly believe that the common sense solution we have sought is wetlands mitigation banking. Mitigation banking allows private property owners to pay wetlands experts to mitigate the impact their development will have on wetlands. Those experts, working with regulators, do the mitigation in banks of land which are set aside, restored to wetland status and, most importantly, enhanced. This concept has been embraced by regulators, developers and the conservation community.”