In 1976, USACE made a landmark decision to block development that threatened Marco Island's mangrove wetlands. 6 years later, Deltona handed Florida 15,000 acres of habitat and received 160 acres of industrial land in return

A major change in U.S. environmental regulation played out on the southwest Florida coast in the 1970s, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) confronted a large development proposal on Marco Island. What began as a dispute over dredging, filling and residential construction ultimately became a significant test of the federal government's willingness to protect wetlands from large-scale development.

The roots of USACE's regulatory authority went back to the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, which enabled the Corps to address pollution when it threatened navigation on the nation's waterways. The agency's responsibilities broadened significantly after Congress enacted the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, widely called the Clean Water Act. Under the new framework, ecological considerations became part of the regulatory process, including in wetlands and waterways where navigation was not the primary concern. Section 404 established a new federal permitting system for dredging and filling material in regulated waters.