The total number of permit applications with proposed nontidal wetland impacts, by year and province, are presented in Table 1. Of the three provinces, the Coastal Plain clearly had the most nontidal wetland permit activity with 81, 79, and 60 percent of the total permit applications for the years 1991, 1992, and 1993 respectively. The Piedmont showed increasing wetland activity, nearly doubling permit applications from 1992 to 1993. The Mountain province was relatively inactive, accounting for only 8 percent of the permit applications in 1993.

    The total number of permits with proposed nontidal wetland impacts is presented by year and locality in Table 2. Within the Coastal Plain, Chesapeake had the largest number of permit applications, followed closely by Henrico, Spotsylvania, and Virginia Beach. The Piedmont province showed the greatest permit activity in Louisa and Dinwiddie counties in 1992 and 1993, respectively. In the Mountain province, Rockbridge, Highland and Augusta were the leading localities in nontidal wetland permit applications, but it should be noted that these totals are relatively small compared to the Coastal Plain and Piedmont.

   The monthly number of permits received with proposed nontidal wetland impacts, by year and physiographic province, is presented in Table 3. In 1991, the Coastal Plain had the greatest permit activity in the final third of the year, peaking in October. The Piedmont, while smaller in scale, shows a similar trend. In 1992 the Coastal Plain and Piedmont provinces' permit activities are more evenly distributed throughout the year, with a slight increase in activity during the fall and winter. The Mountain province registers some activity in 1992, with the greatest number of permit applications in August. In 1993, through the month of September, the peak activity appears to be in the first third of the year, peaking in March for both the Coastal Plain and Piedmont.

     Total yearly numbers of permits by locality and activity category are presented in Tables 4-6. Figure 2 presents a summary of the data in Tables 4-6 by province. In 1991, residential development was responsible for the largest number of permit applications in the Coastal Plain (Table 4). All other proposed projects were fairly evenly distributed among the activity categories. In the Piedmont, the largest number of permit applications targeted municipal projects.

    Residential development was again responsible for the greatest number of proposed permits in the Coastal Plain in 1992 (Table 5). However, in the Piedmont the greatest activity was ovserved for the recreation category. Residential, municipal and agricultural activities were also significant. The Mountain region showed residential development as the major focus of proposed nontidal wetland permit activities.

    Residential development continues to be responsible for the majority of nontidal wetland permit activities in the Coastal Plain in 1993, more than doubling municipal activities, the second leading cause for proposed permits (Table 6). Permit applications in the Piedmont were dominated by agricultural activities, followed by residential, municipal, and recreational activities. Primary proposed nontidal wetland losses in the Mountain province were due to residential development.

    Yearly site visit frequencies by permit and physiographic province are displayed in Figure 3. The number of visits required per permit application by Corps personnel ranged from zero to seven. Most permit applications necessitated one site visit; however, in some cases multiple visits were required. The greatest number of site visits each year occurred in the Coastal Plain, primarily due to the relative proportion of permit applications with respect to the other provinces.

    Appendix A and Appendix B present nontidal wetland permit proposals and results by year, wetland classification (as per Cowardin et al. 1979), and location. The data include proposed losses, permitted losses and compensatory mitigation for the permitted losses.

    Appendix A and Appendix B show an increase in the number of proposed wetland permits from 1991 to 1993; however, they also show a marked decrease in the total acreage of proposed to permitted wetland losses. Proposed and permitted nontidal wetland losses, as well as compensatory mitigation, were greatest in the Coastal Plain for all three years. Palustrine, as opposed to lacustrine or riverine, was the class of wetland incurring the greatest losses, with more losses of palustrine forested than palustrine emergent. Compensatory mitigation was also greatest for palustrine wetlands, again showing more compensation with palustrine forested wetlands than with palustrine emergent. The amount of compensatory mitigation for palustrine wetlands stayed relatively steady over the three studied years. Lacustrine wetland losses were significantly less than palustrine losses with more compensation than overall losses for the year 1991. Riverine losses were also significantly less than palustrine; however, while decreases were observed from proposed to permitted losses, there was a relatively small amount of compensatory mitigation for riverine wetland losses.