Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 104 Part 4.djvu/54

 104 STAT. 2370 PUBLIC LAW 101-537—NOV. 8, 1990 Public Law 101-587 101st Congress An Act Nov. 8, 1990 To authorize a study of the fishery resources of the Great Lakes, and for other [H.R. 4299] purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Conservation. United States of America in Congress assembled, Great ukes TITLE I—GREAT LAKES FISH AND KionAct WILDLIFE RESTORATION of 1990. 16 USC 941 note. SECTION 1001. SHORT TITLE. This title may be cited as the "Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1990". 16 USC 941. SEC. 1002. FINDINGS. The Congress finds and declares the following: (1) As the human population of the Great Lakes Basin has expanded to over 35,000,000 people, great demands have been placed on the lakes for use for boating and other recreation, navigation, municipal and industrial water supply, waste disposal, power production, and other purposes. These growing and often conflicting demands exert pressure on the fish and wildlife resources of the Great Lakes Basin, including in the form of contaminants, invasion by nonindigenous species, habitat degradation and destruction, legal and illegal fishery resource harvest levels, and sea lamprey predation. (2) The fishery resources of the Great Lakes support recreational fisheries enjoyed by more than 5,000,000 people annually and commercial fisheries providing approximately 9,000 jobs. Together, these fisheries generate economic activity worth more than $4,400,000,000 annually to the United States. (3) The availability of a suitable forage base is essential to lake trout, walleye, yellow perch, and other recreational and commercially valuable fishery resources of the Great Lakes Basin. Protecting and restoring productive fish habitat, including by protecting water quality, is essential to the successful recovery of Great Lakes Basin fishery resources. (4) The Great Lakes Basin contains important breeding and migration habitat for all types of migratory birds. Many migratory bird species dependent on deteriorating Great Lakes Basin habitat have suffered serious population declines in recent years. (5) Over 80 percent of the original wetlands in the Great Lakes Basin have been destroyed and such losses continue at a rate of 20,000 acres annually. (6) Contaminant burdens in the fish and wildlife resources of the Great Lakes Basin are substantial and the impacts of those contaminants on the life functions of important fish and wildlife 49-139 O - 90 (537)

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