FINDINGS.

SECTION 1. FINDINGS. The Congress finds that— (1) Grays Harbor, a ninety-four-square-mile estuary on the coast of the State of Washington, is of critical importance to certain migratory shorebirds and waterfowl and provides important habitat for many types of fish and wildlife, including threatened and endangered species; (2) the area known as Bowerman Basin is a tidal mudflat within the Grays Harbor estuary which attracts hundreds of thousands of migratory shorebirds during spring and fall migrations as well as peregrine falcons and other raptors; (3) the Bowerman Basin provides extraordinary recreational, research, and educational opportunities for students, scientists, birdwatchers, nature photographers, the physically handicapped, and others; (4) the Bowerman Basin is an internationally significant environmental resource that is unprotected and may require active management to prevent vegetative encroachment and to otherwise protect and enhance its habitat values; and (5) the Bowerman Basin has been identified in the Grays Harbor Estuary Management Plan, prepared by Grays Harbor Regional Planning Commission, as an area deserving permanent protection.