
Oregon joins “America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge” to protect wetlands, rivers and streams

The White House launched a new freshwater initiative on Tuesday to protect 8 million acres of wetlands and 100,000 miles of rivers and streams by 2030– and Oregon is rising to the challenge.
Announced the day after Earth Day, the new “America the Beautiful Fresh Water Challenge” encourages states, cities, tribes and non-profit organizations to protect waterways left at risk by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. EPA. In this case, the court ruled that wetlands without a continuous surface connection with other waterways are no longer protected by the Clean Water Act. The court’s decision also rejected a longstanding legal precedent that has protected streams that provide drinking water for millions of Americans.
Environment Oregon, along with Environment America, has been working to protect the nation’s waters against pollution and degradation for nearly 20 years.
“Wetlands are the kidneys of our ecosystem, filtering out pollution that can threaten the health of swimmers, wildlife and our drinking water. Unfortunately, our country has already lost vast expanses of wetlands to sprawl, mining, pipelines and more,” said Celeste Meiffren-Swango, state director of Environment Oregon. “By joining this effort, Oregon is signaling our commitment to protecting our wetlands, rivers and streams that were left defenseless against polluters and developers by the Supreme Court. We urge more states to join this effort and help restore and protect many waterways that make our country ‘America the Beautiful.'”
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