Wetlands

Wetlands are areas of transition where the land meets the water. They are wet often enough to support those types of vegetation that grow only in saturated soil conditions. There are both freshwater and saltwater wet-lands. Some are dense forests, such as the tall thickets of the Keys. Others are sparsely such as the intertidal flats, salt marshes, and salt ponds of the Keys. Some wetlands show surface water at all times; others are wet to the eye only on high tides; others are dry for long periods.

Bad press for wetlands

Wetlands have suffered a terrible reputation. How do you react to such words as swamp, bog, stagnant, dank air, miasma, pestilence, mosquitoes, malaria and yellow fever? Do they suggest something of value, something needing protection? Instead, humans have drained and filled wetlands for centuries on the assumption they could make them more useful and, in a single stroke, rid themselves of a nuisance.

Estimates are that in the years since the U.S. was settled by Europeans over 5.0% of the wetlands of the contiguous states have been lost to drainage, channelization, filling, damming, conversion to crop and grazing lands, mining,storms, erosion, etc. In 1763 for example, George Washington set his mind on draining the Great Dismal Swamp of Virginia and North Carolina for agriculture. The project proved too ambitious. But this kind of thinking persists, something like a thousand acres of wetlands are lost in the United States each day.

The 20th Century history of South Florida is a well-documented example of the developers approach to wetlands. The desire to drain or fill wetlands for agriculture or construction continues.

Using aerial photography, Audubon researchers have documented the loss of 60% of the shallow water, open mangroves in the Upper Keys! Between 1955 and 1985 40% was lost directly from dredging and filling. Human schemes trample nature's design, despite the real value of wetlands to our lives.