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Lawyers, Swamps, and Money: U.S. Wetland Law, Policy, and Politics Royal C. Gardner Island Press, 2011
[S]ection 404 [of the Clean Water Act is] one of the simplest statutes to describe and one of the most painful to apply. . . . [I]t is constructed on the backs of two beasts moving in different directions.
-Professor Oliver Houck (1989)
Public perception and regulatory control of wetlands have evolved from the viewpoint that wetlands were worthless swamps and bogs to-particularly after Hurricane Katrina-valuable resources worthy of protection. Lawyers, Swamps, and Money provides an overview of wetlands law and policy today, including the "curious relationship" between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the administration of federal law intended to protect wetlands.
First, the author addresses the "ebb and flow of public perceptions of wetlands," to arrive at the current perception that America's wetlands have significant value, not only to wildlife reliant on such wetlands, but also to people from both an economic and aesthetic standpoint. However, as noted by the author, the majority of such wetlands, perhaps 75 percent, are privately owned and "questions about private property rights influence the debate about wetland protection." He continues:
How should we as a society balance an individual's private property rights with the public benefits...