The National Wetlands Coalition, which has a logo that shows a duck flying over a wetland, is not campaigning to protect wetlands as its name suggests. The group was formed in response to a policy statement made in 1989 by President George Bush that his government's aim was to have no net loss of wetlands. The Coalition which is largely made up of oil and gas companies, including

• Exxon
• Shell
• Mobil

It was formed to protect the right of its members to build, drill and farm in wetlands without impediment.The Coalition is chaired by H. Leighton Steward. Until recently Steward was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Louisiana Land and Exploration Company (LL&E). The Coalition claims that LL&E is the largest owner of coastal wetlands in the United States. LL&E recently merged with another large resource company called Burlington Resources and Steward is now Vice Chairman of the combined entity. The Vice Chairman of the Coalition is Dean Kleckner, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

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Additional Material

Environmental Working Group - Background paper on NWC

Swamped with Cash

NWC Testimony to Congressional Hearing

CLEAR, Industry Deploys New Anti-Environmental Strategy, 1 Juy 1997.

Megalli, Mark and Andy Friedman, 1991, Masks of Deception: Corporate Front Groups in America, Essential Information.

Ruben, Barbara, 1992, 'Root Rot', Environmental Action (Spring) pp. 25-30.

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