Wetlands are a valuable natural resource, yet over 200,000 acres are destroyed in the United States per year. This book examines whether states should assume the role of protecting wetlands rather than the federal government.

Wetlands are a valuable natural resource, yet over 200,000 acres are destroyed in the United States each year. An alternative recently promoted to improve wetland protection is state assumption of the law governing wetland protection, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (section 404). This book discusses the implementation problems associated with the national wetland regulation program and examines the state assumption option in twelve states, with extended case studies of Florida, Maryland, Michigan, and New Jersey.