The following uses of and activities
on wetlands are permitted, if otherwise permitted by law:
(a) The construction and maintenance of noncommercial catwalks, piers,
boathouses, boat shelters, fences, duckblinds, wildlife management shelters, footbridges,
observation decks and shelters and other similar structures; provided, that such
structures are so constructed on pilings as to permit the reasonably unobstructed flow of
the tide and preserve the natural contour of the wetlands:
(b) The cultivation and harvesting of shellfish, and worms for bait;
(c) Noncommercial outdoor recreational activities, including hiking,
boating, trapping, hunting, fishing, shellfishing, horseback riding, swimming, skeet and
trap shooting, and shooting preserves; provided, that no structure shall be constructed
except as permitted in subsection (a) of this section;
(d) The cultivation and harvesting of agricultural, forestry or
horticultural products; grazing and haying;
(e) Conservation, repletion and research activities of the Virginia
Marine Resources Commission, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the Virginia
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and other related conservation agencies;
(f) The construction or maintenance of aids to navigation which are
authorized by governmental authority;
(g) Emergency decrees of any duly appointed health officer of a
governmental subdivision acting to protect the public health;
(h) The normal maintenance, repair or addition to presently existing
roads, highways, railroad beds, or facilities abutting on or crossing wetlands; provided,
that no waterway is altered and no additional wetlands are covered;
(I) Governmental activity on wetlands owned or leased by the
Commonwealth of Virginia, or a political subdivision thereof;
(j) The normal maintenance of man-made drainage ditches; provided, that
no additional wetlands are covered; and provided further, that this subdivision shall not
be deemed to authorize construction of any drainage ditch; and
(k) Other outdoor recreational activities; provided, that such
activities do not impair the natural functions of the wetlands or alter the natural
contour of the wetlands.