Wetland losses on the decline

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

A recent federal report on wetlands in the United States, shows them still losing ground, but at a dramatically reduced rate. And there's optimism that losses might end altogether in the future, replaced by gains in U.S. wetland acreage.

"The most recent report indicates that the rate of wetland loss in the lower 48 states has been dramatically reduced."

Wetlands Biologist Tom Dahl helped prepare the wetlands report for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...

"Between the 1970s and the 1980s, the U.S. was losing about 290,000 acres of wetlands a year. That rate has come down to about 58,000 acres a year. So that's an 80% reduction in the rate of wetland loss... that's tremendously good news for us."

The report on wetland status and trends counts wetland acres in the continental United States...

"There are about 105 million acres of wetlands remaining in the lower 48 states. And (knowing) that helps us determine our national status in terms of where we are, how many acres are remaining, based on how many acres we had, totally."

Defining U.S. wetlands

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

A new federal report shows an 80% decline in the rate of wetland losses in the continental US. Still, the losses are calculated at about 58,000 acres per year, using what wetland biologist Tom Dahl calls a biological definition of "wetlands"...

"It's an interface between land and water. And so lands that have water on them for a period of time, they grow wetland plants, and the soils have certain wetland characteristics, that's what we call wetlands."

The report on wetland status and trends is limited to wetland acreage...

"We look for aerial changes in wetlands. We don't do wetlands quality issues--for example if a wetland has become more polluted--that's not what we do."

The report also looks at wetlands by type, noting that Florida's estuary shrubs are among the most rare...

"In our coastal systems, things like mangrove swamps are the least common. Some of that is related to climate, as mangroves don't grow in the northern states--they can't tolerate the cold. So they're primarily confined to central and south Florida, south Texas."

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

As federal agencies compiled a report on the status and trends of wetlands in the continental U.S., they found a dramatic reduction in the rate of wetland losses--down 80% from the previous decade. Wetland biologist Tom Dahl says they're keeping track because of wetlands' importance...

"We used to view wetlands as wastelands--swampy areas... disease infested. Back in the 1800s we would fill them, drain them, try and convert them into more useable land."

With better public and regulatory understanding of wetlands' importance, came greater concern about wetland preservation...

"We've become more aware of the functions and values that wetlands provide. They certainly are important for whole array of fish and wildlife species. A number of those may be endangered species both at the federal and state level."

But the value isn't just for wildlife...

"They also provide a lot of cultural features: they improve water quality, coastal wetlands protect coastal areas from storm damage in some cases... (from) tidal surges."

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

Federal agencies don't have final figures yet, but they say Florida has kept pace with a nationwide reduction in wetland losses--down to 58,000 acres from 290,000 acres lost each year in the decade prior. But wetland biologist Tom Dahl points out Florida has more than 10% of the wetlands in the lower 48, and some of the greatest pressure on them...

"This comes of course from increasing populations, increasing demand on water resources. We hear about water shortages and drought conditions... those kind of things affect wetlands as well."

Those effects on wetlands come from what Dahl calls a competition for natural resources...

"Florida, like many other states that are growing rapidly, faces competing demands for its natural resources, and wetlands certainly fall into that category."

Still, he says Florida's wetland losses have declined...

"Those kinds of conflicts, as they occurred over time, have impacted Florida's wetlands. And we've lost a lot of them through the 1950s and early 1960s."

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

While a recent Federal report shows an 80% reduction in the rate of wetland loss in the continental U.S., it still shows a net loss of 58,000 acres per year over the last decade. But the scientists who prepared the report are optimistic that, not only will losses be stopped, but that they'll be recording gains to the lower 48's 100 million acres of wetlands. Wetland biologist Tom Dahl...

"You see wetland creation in some areas of the country. Creation of flood retention ponds, small recreational lakes, fishing ponds on farmlands."

Other man-made projects, too, are finding their way into wetland win category...

"Beach renourishment projects and beach reestablishment projects, mangrove restoration projects, inland marsh creation and restoration projects."

And projects associated with the upcoming Everglades restoration--which improve more wetlands than they create--will still provide some wetland gains...

"There are efforts underway to restore areas that historically were wetland, but were drained or damaged in some way. And now, put those things back into wetland."