 The nation's natural resources are not just beautiful. They are the basis of our way of life. Because demands on them are steadily rising, their sustainability is no longer assured. We have a lot of unanswered questions about the condition of our valuable ecosystems. We don't know if they are stable. We need to know how they are changing and why. We need comprehensive information that tells us about the state of our nation's ecological resources. A national ecological report card. EMAP, the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program, is an innovative research and monitoring effort that measures the condition of our nation's ecosystems. EMAP will provide information, both now and in the future, to protect the ecological resources that are so critical to our livelihood. The stakes are high. Let's look at four familiar types of ecosystems. By the year 2000, 75% of the U.S. population will live within 50 miles of a coastal area. In estuaries where ocean and freshwater meet, 90% of commercial fish and shellfish spend some part of their lives, sharing their environment with urban development, industry and shipping. These resources form the basis of a $10 billion commercial and recreational fishing industry. When we see a decline in yields or a fish kill like this, we want to know why. America's biggest estuary, the biggest estuary in the world, is the Chesapeake Bay. Its recreational value is obvious, but the Chesapeake is also the livelihood for many Americans, and the condition of the Chesapeake has declined dramatically in the last 100 years. Commercial fishing productivity in the Chesapeake has dropped 82%. The oyster catch is 1% of what it was a century ago. If we want to stabilize and rejuvenate such ecosystems, we need to know more, and the answers don't come easily. For instance, scientists have recently discovered that a major problem for the Chesapeake may be atmospheric deposition of nutrients, like nitrogen. Toxic chemicals from nearby industry turn out to be only part of the problem. Unexpected findings like this demonstrate the complexity of our environment and the challenges facing us as we work to protect our ecosystems. Now let's look at forests. Forests cover one-third of the United States. Three million jobs directly depend on forests, and these jobs generate 4% of our gross national product. Forests today are under increased pressure to provide lumber, paper, and other important commodities. But we haven't adequately measured what condition forests are in. How are they changing in response to air and water pollution and other environmental threats? Agriculture raises similar questions. Productivity so far has been going up, but it goes up at a price. We use fertilizers, insecticides, irrigation. All take their toll. These are more than concerns for farmers. In the international balance of trade, U.S. agriculture is our biggest consistent winner, showing the highest net export rate of any economic sector. Agriculture is 15% of the U.S. economy, covering 40% of our land. But even though we track how many acres we plant and how big the crops are, we know little about the condition of the land itself. How much productive land is available, what pollutants it's receiving, and most importantly, how its productivity is changing. We are top producers now, but what about the future? Is our agricultural productivity sustainable? And then there are the wetlands. Over the last few decades, wetlands have been depleted at a rate of almost 1,000 acres, more than a square mile each day. Wetlands are nurseries of the environment and maintain biological diversity. What does loss of wetlands mean? For our waterfowl populations, it can mean overcrowding and disease. In the last 30 years, we estimate that over 200,000 ducks and geese have died along the Central Flyway. Due to avian cholera. We've taken measures to prevent loss of wetlands, but what about their condition? Are wetlands changing? Clearly, our health and welfare depend on the condition of our natural resources. To ensure the sustainability of these critical ecosystems, we must have a clearer picture of the extent and condition of our ecological resources. You may ask, why is this important now? First, prevention. Identifying trends before problems become widespread or irreversible is a protective approach. Early detection is like catching a medical problem in its early stages. We can't wait until it's too late. Our ecological resources are so valuable that environmental protection is no longer a luxury. It's an economic necessity. Second, we need to document results. We need to know how well our environmental protection programs are working. We're spending between 2% and 3% of our GNP on environmental protection, and we need to know if these expenditures are getting the desired results. Are we regulating the right things in the right way? Without better information, we can't be sure. We need that national ecological report card. This is where EMAP comes in. EMAP examines our natural resources in seven basic categories. Near coastal waters, the Great Lakes, wetlands, forests, surface waters, agro-ecosystems, and arid lands. Working closely with NOAA, NASA, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, agencies in the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Energy, EPA has designed EMAP to be an interagency research and monitoring program that measures our progress and identifies problems in the early stages before they require expensive remediation. How does EMAP work, and what makes it unique and innovative? First, EMAP's field sampling, applied research, and use of remote sensing technologies are all linked by a statistical design. EMAP's sampling network uses a fixed hexagonal grid system that covers the entire country. All of the continental U.S. is contained within one immense hexagon. The geometry of hexagons, like a tiled floor, covers the Earth's surface with the same repeated shape. The total grid contains 12,600 hexagons in the United States. EMAP sets out orderly schedules for selecting which hexagons to sample, for which indicators, for which days, months, and years. The fixed grid design provides the framework that allows us to compare and integrate data on regional and national levels of resolution. The beauty of this grid system is its flexibility. States or regions can adapt EMAP's design by simply intensifying the grid to increase the number of sampling sites. This allows states or regions to augment baseline EMAP information, giving area-specific answers with known statistical confidence for a fraction of the cost of independent studies. Using the EMAP approach, local regions and states can construct their own report cards using compatible information and consistent terminology. EMAP's design allows this information to be totally integrated into the national picture, providing even more depth and statistical precision. EMAP's second distinguishing feature is its monitoring philosophy. For years, we tried to measure the quality of the environment by measuring the pollutants we put into it. EMAP's emphasis is different. Like a doctor examining a patient, EMAP looks directly at the condition of living systems. This isn't easy. It's simpler to measure pounds of pollutants than to decide when a wetland is healthy. So, EPA has launched a major research program to develop, select and refine environmental indicators that directly measure the condition of ecosystems. To help us, we brought together some of the nation's most prestigious scientists for guidance and peer review. We're meeting regularly with the National Academy of Sciences, EPA's Science Advisory Board and groups like the National Association and the Estuarine Research Federation to ensure that EMAP is using the best current science. Rigorous, statistically-based sampling coupled with sophisticated biological monitoring. That combination makes EMAP unique, giving it the ability to find unbiased answers about the health of our ecosystems across all regions of the nation. This holistic approach means that we understand that pollution, water pollution and solid wastes are not separate problems. EMAP takes into account the interrelationships among stressors so that when we take action we can be much more confident that we will get the results we expect. An approach like this hasn't really been possible until now. EMAP relies on state-of-the-art computer technology, remote sensing, and biochemistry. These technologies not only make the program possible, they are more cost-effective than traditional monitoring methods. EMAP sets a precedent that's attracted international attention. The United Nations Environment Program and a growing list of countries, Australia and the Caribbean nations, to name a few, are working with EPA to adopt EMAP's methodology for their own use. Although EMAP is a long-term program, initial projects in near-coastal areas and forests have already demonstrated the potential of the concept and yielded useful data. In just one year, we discovered new things about our resources. Last summer, EMAP went regularly to the same points in estuaries from Cape Cod to the Chesapeake to trawl for fish at planned intervals. Water and bottom sediment quality were measured and tested. Fish species were counted. Investigators noted tumors and other obvious abnormalities. Selected samples were sent off for analysis to discover what chemicals and other pollutants they were absorbing from the environment. Preliminary findings show that estuaries in the mid-Atlantic are healthier than expected. Less than 1% of the fish had abnormalities. But there are some areas for concern. EMAP found diminished biodiversity in bottom-dwelling organisms in about 25% of the area. Toxic sediments were most prevalent in small estuaries. Trash was found in about one-quarter of the area. From forest studies in New England, we're not seeing widespread damage. Less than 4% of the trees are in poor condition. However, some species are affected more than others. 13% of the American beach showed signs of severe dieback. The ozone exposure was indicated in about 10% of the area. 3% showed signs of sulfur dioxide exposure. These problems were localized, however. Overall, we saw no pattern of major dieback in the forests of New England. Last year's work laid the foundation. This year we will add surface waters and wetlands to EMAP's agenda and extend monitoring activities in estuaries and forests in areas of the country. Over the next few years, the other ecosystems will be added as we move toward full implementation. Parallel programs will characterize arid lands, near-coastal waters, surface waters, agro-ecosystems, forests, the Great Lakes, and wetland environments, all of our nation's ecological resources. EMAP will provide a strong basis for the nation's overall ecological risk reduction strategy. Better decision-making will be possible not only for EPA, but for all those with responsibilities for the environment, Congress, federal agencies, the states, environmental groups, and industry. We'll use it as a tool to identify high-risk problems, helping us to target our research and risk management efforts in a more cost-effective way, and we'll be able to issue an annual report on the state of our environment, a national ecological report card. EMAP is evolution, not revolution, in environmental monitoring. It builds on past efforts and proven techniques, but it moves us many steps forward. EMAP makes the most cost-effective use of existing programs by tying them together into a larger and more productive network. By linking together the monitoring systems we already have, upgrading monitoring methods, and feeding their results into today's advanced computer systems, EMAP squeezes more benefits out of existing and future investments. EPA, working with many other participants, has adopted a new way of doing business, and EMAP is a cornerstone of that new approach. As we move toward the 21st century, our environmental protection programs have to rely on the best science and the most advanced technology available. EMAP lives up to that high standard. We must move forward now to ensure the sustainability of America's natural heritage for generations to come.