SUMMARY OF WETLANDS ISSUES
CORE THEME: "Wetlands are vital to our health
and prosperity, and to many plant and animal species, yet they are being wiped
out."
EXPANDED THEME: Wetlands are critical habitat for
diverse species of plants and animals, many of which are of great economic
importance to human society. Wetlands also perform several vital and
economically valuable environmental services for us, including flood control
and water purification. Yet world wetlands, including those of Texas and the
rest of North America, continue to be drained or filled for agricultural,
commercial and residential use. Over half of the wetlands in the Lower 48
states have been destroyed since the 1700s. About 100 million acres remain, but
some 300,000 of them -- including some of the most critical -- are wiped every
year despite legal protections.
FACTS TO SUPPORT WETLANDS THEMES
(1) Wetlands are
places where the land is soggy or covered with shallow water and inhabited by
wet-loving plants. They are:
(a) Swamps,
marshes, bogs, temporary ponds and wet spots, prairie potholes. (Rivers and
lakes are not wetlands, but their edges often are.)
(b) May be
salt or brackish or fresh, year-around or seasonal, in hot or cold climates.
(c) Very
rich in life and vital to humans.
(2) Wetlands
filter water and trap toxins. Some cities use wetlands to help treat
sewage. Wetlands save
(3) Wetlands
slow down and absorb flood waters. A federal study found that 8,400
wetland acres near Boston prevent $17 million a year in flood damage. Wetland
losses account for much flood damage and flood-control costs on the
Mississippi. Wetlands trap silt that would otherwise clog waterways. Seacoast
wetlands absorb tide and storm surges, protecting property from erosion. THIS
VITAL LESSON HAS BEEN PAINFULLY REINFORCED BY THE FATE OF NEW ORLEANS IN
HURRICANE KATRINA: Virtually all experts agree that damage would have been much
less severe if critical wetlands protecting the city had not been destroyed by
human actions and neglect.
(4) Wetlands
offer permanent habitat for many animal and plant species and temporary habitat
for migrating birds. Damage from agriculture and channelization
has cut bird populations in the Everglades 90 percent. Some 43 percent of U.S.
endangered and threatened species depend directly or indirectly on wetlands.
(5) Wetlands
feed people. Rice and cranberries are wetland crops. Two thirds of
seafood caught off U.S. coasts (50 to 96 percent depending on area) has spent
at least part of its life in coastal wetlands or feeds on creatures that do. THe Environmental Protection Agency found 71 percent of
fish landed in the U.S. in 1991 -- dockside value $3.3 billion, but feeding a
$27 billion industry employing hundreds of thousands) -- depended on wetlands.
For farmers, wetland patches are insurance: they can often be farmed when
drought idles other land.
(6) Wetlands
make money for people. Besides commercial fishing,
wetland communities profit from hunting, recreational fishing, boating, hiking,
birdwatching, etc. More than half of
(7) Half of
America's wetlands have already been destroyed. Of the 100 million acres
remaining, each year we destroy about 300,000 acres for farmland, housing,
malls, golf courses, etc., despite laws protecting wetlands.
(8) We can
all help save wetlands. We can:
(a) Learn
about wetlands and educate our friends.
(b) Join
groups that defend wetlands, from political-activist organizations to groups
that buy wetlands such as the Nature Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited.
(c) Tell public officials we support laws and
regulations that protect wetlands and/or create incentives for voluntary
preservation or creation of wetlands. Remind people the stakes are high:
wetlands are critical to public health and welfare and should not be destroyed
for short-term profit.
WETLANDS BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Wetland, by April Pulley Sayre, in
the series "Exploring Earth's Biomes," Twenty-First Century Books,
New York, 1996.
2. Wetlands Fact Sheets, by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, 1995.
3. Facts About
4. Wading Into Wetlands: National Wildlife Week
Educator's Guide, by the National Wildlife Federation, Vienna, Va.,
1995.
5. Oases For Wildlife:
Small And Farmed Wetlands, by the National Audubon Society,