a. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that one of the most vital and productive areas of our natural world is the so-called “estuarine zone,” that area between the sea and the land; that this area protects the land from the force of the sea, moderates our weather, provides a home for water fowl and for 2/3 of all our fish and shellfish, and assists in absorbing sewage discharge by the rivers of the land; and that in order to promote the public safety, health and welfare, and to protect public and private property, wildlife, marine fisheries and the natural environment, it is necessary to preserve the ecological balance of this area and prevent its further deterioration and destruction by regulating the dredging, filling, removing or otherwise altering or polluting thereof, all to the extent and in the manner provided herein.

b. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall, within 2 years of the effective date of this act, make an inventory and maps of all tidal wetlands within the State. The boundaries of such wetlands shall generally define the areas that are at or below high water and shall be shown on suitable maps, which may be reproductions or aerial photographs. Each such map shall be filed in the office of the county recording officer of the county or counties in which the wetlands indicated thereon are located. Each wetland map shall bear a certificate of the commissioner to the effect that it is made and filed pursuant to this act. To be entitled to filing no wetlands map need meet the requirements of R.S. 47:1-6

L.1970, c. 272, s. 1, eff. Nov. 5, 1970.