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These two options are offered as a starting point for regional decision-making. Any final policy will need to take into account how current and predicted pressures affect the landscape. An initial evaluation of the effect of both standards will give an indication how the local wetland manager can adapt an individual strategy to maximize resource protection while retaining development benefits to their community. Using GIS-mapping tools will be invaluable for this evaluation. Using this system will classify a wetland into one of four categories: Preserve, Manage 1, Manage 2, or Manage 3. The Preserve category is for exceptional and highest-functioning wetlands or those sensitive wetlands receiving conveyed storm water runoff that have yet retained a medium level of vegetative diversity/integrity. These wetlands are those that should be preserved in (or improved to) their most pristine or highest functional capacity with wide, natural buffers, in perpetuity. In the Manage 1 category are high-quality wetlands that should be protected from development and other pressures of increased use, including indirect effects. Maintaining natural buffers will help to retain the significant function these wetlands provide. In the event that impacts to these wetlands cannot be avoided, replacement ratios for mitigation should exceed the state-required minimums. Manage 2 wetlands provide medium functional levels and the wetland extent should be maintained. These wetlands often provide optimal restoration opportunity. Manage 3 wetlands have been substantially 5 disturbed; replacement considerations can be minimized after proper sequencing. Using the Flowchart The process can be followed in Figures 1.1 \[Basic Standard\] and 1.2 \[Increase Protection Standard\]. Begin at the top and follow the arrows and numbered boxes through the diagram until all of the wetlands have been placed in a management category. Find all wetlands that are classified as Critical Resources, as described in Section 2.0; those wetlands are classified in the Preserve category. Wetlands determined to not fit any of the Critical Resources categories are then classified into one of the four management class groups. The suggested wetland management criteria that could be applied to wetlands within each management class are provided in Table 1.1. 5 Replacement minimized down to a 1:1 ratio (in the counties with less than 50 percent of their historic wetlands) or lower (in counties with more than 50 percent of their historic wetlands). Management Classification 2