TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT -- OR TOO LITTLE?

More than a decade ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers required developers of an industrial park to set aside a wetland preserve to replace the area being developed. And just two years ago the Missouri Department of Natural Resources forced the Cape Girardeau School District to set aside a wetland area to replace a small bog on the site of the district's new Career and Technology Center.

But when the water disappeared from R. B Welty's 27-acre wetland near Whitewater, Mo., after a ditch was dug on a neighboring piece of property, not a single state or federal agency took any action. Indeed, Welty's attempts to get help have been rebuffed again and again. Why are these agencies so interested in some wetlands and not others?

In short, it appears the lack of interest is due to the fact that no state or federal funds are involved in Welty's former wetland. If he had taken federal conservation funds, for example, he probably would be surrounded by state and federal agencies.

This is a case of too little or too much. Some private landowners don't want government involvement -- until something happens. Then it's difficult to get government's attention.