Summary

Wetlands protected under the Small Wetlands Acquisition Program are located mainly in the Prairie Pothole Region in the upper Middle West, including parts of Montana, the Dakotas, Iowa, and Minnesota. Prairie potholes are shallow, freshwater depressions and marshes that were created by glaciers thousands of years ago. Loss of such habitat is a major reason why populations of some duck species, such as mallards and pintails, have declined about 60 percent over the past 50 years. The Small Wetlands Acquisition Program has successfully helped preserve wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region, primarily because the Fish and Wildlife Service has effectively enforced easements on wetlands. GAO believes that the program could be made even better if the Fish and Wildlife Service were to correct weaknesses in the (1) documentation of waterfowl's use of wetlands under easement and (2) guidance involving the timeliness with which damaged wetlands are restored and the circumstances under which violators should be issued notices and assessed fines.

GAO found that: (1) in the four FWS wetland management districts reviewed, FWS is providing reasonable assurance that violators will be detected by keeping accurate and current documentation on the wetlands to be protected, keeping landowners and tenants on lands with wetlands easements informed of the terms of the easements, and performing annual aerial surveillance of the wetlands under easement followed by on-the-ground inspections of suspected violations; (2) FWS officials in two of the districts reviewed estimated that significantly less than 1 percent of the total acreage under easement is damaged each year; (3) although some damaged wetlands may never again sustain the many varieties of life forms that existed before the damage occurred, almost all damaged wetlands are restored to be productive habitat for ducks, usually through voluntary compliance by the landowners or tenants; (4) despite its success, SWAP alone cannot stem the decline in migratory waterfowl and wetlands; (5) drought, predation, farming practices, and illegal harvesting contribute to the continuing decrease in North America's duck population, and wetlands continue to be lost to agriculture, development, and other uses; and (6) SWAP weaknesses included some FWS district offices' failure to routinely document waterfowl's use of wetlands, timely restore damaged wetlands, and issue notices and assess fines to easement violators.