WELLS, Maine — President Bush yesterday celebrated the 34th annual Earth Day by announcing a proposal to create, improve and protect 3 million acres of environmentally sensitive wetlands over the next five years.
The plan, which would cost some $349 million out of a 2005 budget request of Congress for $4.4 billion in conservation programs, is part of the Bush administration’s effort to turn annual net losses of wetlands nationwide into gains.
“Instead of just limiting our losses, we will expand the wetlands of America,” Mr. Bush said after touring a salt marsh at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve accompanied by his mother, Barbara, who lives a few miles away in Kennebunkport.
“Wetlands have been called the nurseries of life, and their well-being is vital to the health of our environment,” he said. “Too many wetlands are degraded and can no longer support healthy wildlife populations, so they need to be restored to health.”
Thirty years ago, the United States lost nearly 500,000 acres of wetlands annually. But in 2001, just 58,000 acres were lost, and on farmland the nation actually produced a net gain of 26,000 acres of wetlands annually between 1997 and 2002, a historic first.
“I’m confident these measures will be not only appreciated by people, but by birds,” Mr. Bush said, drawing laughter from several hundred volunteers gathered at the reserve on a cool day that featured simultaneous drizzle and sunshine.
Mr. Bush picked the Maine reserve — “it was right off the beach here that old Number 41 and I liked to try to catch striped bass,” referring to his father, the 41st president — to illustrate the importance of community involvement in the environment.
Nearly 400 volunteers help maintain the 1,600-acre reserve of salt marshes on the Atlantic Ocean, a project the president said shows that “good stewardship will happen when people say, ’I’m just not going to rely upon the government to be the solution to the problem.’”
But Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, said the federal government under the Bush administration has the worst environmental record in history.
“In three short years, one man and one administration have put the brakes on 30 years of environmental progress,” the Massachusetts senator said in Houston.
“We can do better, because we know that the environment is about something bigger than a once a year photo-op. It’s about protecting our economy, our public health and our way of life. They are all connected and they are all endangered if we don’t change course in November.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, said: “When it comes to the environment, special interests trump the public interest every time for the Bush administration.”
While Democrats berated the administration’s environmental policies, another of Mr. Bush’s presidential opponents gave him light praise for tightening fuel efficiency standards for gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles from 20.7 miles per gallon to 22.2 mpg.
“At least they can say that’s more than the Democrats proposed under Clinton,” said independent Ralph Nader.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.