Birds tell a poignant story about Oregon's changing environment.

In 1960, 900,000 ducks migrated to wintering grounds in Oregon, taking up seasonal residence in swamps, bogs, and marshes.

Today, only 350,000 of the birds live in the state during the winter because much of their wetland habitat has been destroyed by human development, transportation and agriculture.

"When Luis and Clark camped in the area, they reported that the gaggle of geese was so loud that they were unable to sleep. Today, if you camped in the area you couldn't even hear the geese," said Paul Ketchum, senior planner with 1000 Friends of Oregon, a conservation watchdog group: "the wetlands areas were so extensive in the Columbia South Shore area that thousands and thousands of waterfowl resided there," Ketchum said. "Today, the wetland area has been so greatly diminished that waterfowl use is just a small fraction of what it used to be."

The waterfowl populations steadily declined as wetlands were destroyed, and the tide of public opinion about wetlands gradually changed. But government agencies that once focused on draining and filling wetlands are now working to retain and restore them--for the birds and for many other ecological values that have only recently been recognized.

The protection of wetlands comes at a price, however. Strict laws and policies designed to preserve wetlands are making it more difficult and more costly for land owners and planners to develop such areas for industrial uses.

The planned industrial development of west Eugene, for example, is being bogged down by a new interpretation of federal wetlands rules--after the city spent $12 million on sewers and streets to prepare the area for development.

"This community has invested millions of dollars in the west Eugene area," said Abe Farkas, Eugene planning and development director. "Our strong preference is to try to find an appropriate balance between an acceptable level of development and an appropriate dimension for wetlands. "We had that down under the former definition of wetlands. With a new, broader definition of wetlands, we've got a completely different kind of challenge in front of us."

The new definition came after the National Association of Governors established the National Wetlands Policy Forum, which has proposed a national rule that no wetlands can be eliminated unless others are created to compensate for the loss.

The so-called "no net loss" wetlands policy was embraced by Oregon lawmakers this year with the passage of Senate Bill 3, which promotes protection of wetlands and develops a statewide wetlands inventory.

Environmentalists wee the wetlands resources in west Eugene not as a problem, but as an opportunity.

"With appropriate planning, we can redirect industrial development and, through associated mitigation efforts, enhance the wetland areas we have," said Art Farley of the Lane County Audubon Society. "We would like to see the creation of a wetlands reserve connecting the west Eugene wetlands through the Amazon Slough complex with Fern Ridge Reservoir," Farley said. "As Eugene enters the fierce competition for environmentally sound, economic development, the creation of such a wetlands park can only be a positive factor."

Eugene is not the only community trying to strike a balance between wetland preservation and development. Environmentalists, policy makers and scientists have made wetlands an issue throughout the United States, where an estimated 60 percent of the original wetlands have already been lost and another 500,000 acres are destroyed each year.

Definitions of wetlands vary, but most experts agree they are areas that are wet or contain water in the upper soil zones for at least part of the year.

Some wetlands are easy to identify--such as the area north of Highway 126 by Fern Ridge Reservoir--because they are close to water and have plants, such as cattails, commonly associated with water. Other wetlands, such as the grassland area north of West Ave. and west of the Danebo are in northwest Eugene are not as obvious.

Until recently wetlands were generally viewed with disdain as mosquito-infested obstructions to development and travel. But in recent years, knowledge about wetlands has increased. Scientists now believe they are one of the most biologically productive environments in the world.

Inland and coastal wetlands are only now receiving recognition as valuable and endangered natural resources," said Ralph Rogers, wetland ecologist for the Oregon office of the US environmental Protection Agency. "Natural wetland functions include wildlife habitat, fishery habitat, erosion control, flood storage sediment control and water quality control," Rogers said. "They have educational research, cultural, historic, archeological, recreational open space and aesthetic values."

"Oregon has a tremendous variety of wetlands," he said. Coastal wetlands include estuarine salt marshes, mud flats and tide pools, salt and fresh water marshes, and vital swamps and marshes.

West of the Cascades from the zone down to sea level, wetlands include deep and shallow marshes and meadows, sphagnum bogs, and shrubby and forested swamps. Wetlands exist in Easter Oregon in a varied, widely distributed array of permanent and intermittent streams and pools. The tendency to regard wetlands as wasted ground has resulted in the filling, ditching, and draining of thousands of acres of wetlands in the Willamette Valley for crop production.

Though agricultural draining of wetlands is now discouraged by government laws and policies, population migration and urban sprawl are continuing threats to the remaining wetlands, biologists say. "Wetlands are kind of an all-purpose wildlife area extremely rich in their capability to produce all varieties of wildlife," said Herb Cleary, wildlife habitat biologist with the state Department of Fish & Wildlife. "A lot of people are just now beginning to realize this is a diminishing resource, and if something isn't done soon, there won't be any."

Until recently, government policies promoted the elimination of wetlands. The USDA Soil Conservation Service, the US bureau of Reclamation, and the US Army Corps of Engineers have been behind much of the wetlands destruction in the country.

The Corps of Engineers for instance, years ago inundated a popular waterfowl attraction --the large marsh at the confluence of the Long Tom River and Coyote Creek--by building the dam at Fern Ridge Reservoir.

In the past, federal agencies--including the Soil Conservation Service--would actually provide technical and financial assistance to modify or drain wetlands. "It's historically documented," Said Ken Kaul, assistant state conservationist with the Soil Conservation Service.

"Starting in the early 1980s there became an awareness of the value of wetlands, " Kaul said. "The fact is, we've gone the other way now to where we are actively assisting people in the creation of wetlands."

The US Fish & Wildlife Service, which became interested in preserving wetlands because of the numerous rare and endangered species they contain is now putting its money where its mouth is. "Last year we reviewed and agreed to fund between 15 and 20 wetland projects on both private and public lands involving a total of about 150 acres in Oregon. We spent about $160,000." said Patrick Wright, senior staff biologist.