December 12, 1989
With the help of key legislators like Senator George Mitchell of Maine and Representative Silvio Conte of Massachusetts, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, or NAWCA, was introduced. In 1989, the Senate and House passed NAWCA, and President George H.W. Bush signed this new conservation funding mechanism into law on December 12, 1989. Bush also pledged a new policy of "no net loss of wetlands."