According to a recent post by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:  “Vegetated wetlands, like marshes and swamps, are disappearing so quickly that 670,000 acres were lost between 2009 and 2019, an area approximately equal to the land area of Rhode Island. While this data is sobering, it also reiterates the importance of wetland conservation.’  >More

It also highlights the ongoing failure of the goal of ‘no net loss’ for our Nation’s wetlands. 

Some of this failure is a result of various activities permitted for so-called ‘unavoidable impacts’ to wetlands.  When projects like roads, bridges, commercial centers and others are given go-ahead by USACE without quality, timely environmental offset (wetland mitigation) there is an immediate loss of our resources.

Some of the increasingly high-profile failures of offset programs across the U.S. are clearly responsible for not only significant wetland losses each year, but in many cases come with an unexpected price tag for tax-payers.  >More

Results of the National Wetlands Status and Trends Report just released shows that wetland loss increased substantially between 2009 and 2019.  >More 

Our country’s wetlands (and the many vital ecosystem services they provide) deserve better respect. Moreover, they deserve conservation, restoration and long-term protection – that is, real environmental mitigation.