effect is masked hy the abundance of 

 sulfate in seawater, so perhaps sulfide 

 accumulation in freshwater wetlands is a 

 better index oF atmospheric input. In 

 delta fresh marshes about 20 mq S/mVyr 

 as sulfide is sequestered in deep 

 sediments (Hatton 1981). This is more or 

 less pennanently removed from circulation 

 in the S cycle. 



Marshes are also valuable because 

 they act as giant water reservoirs during 

 floods. The vegetation may provide some 

 resistance to the flow of water, slowing 

 it down and thus protecting inland areas, 

 but most of the benefit is probably its 

 storage capacity. This is best seen on 

 rivers where large riparian areas store 

 storm waters and decrease the river stage 

 downstream, reducing flood damage. 



On the Charles River in nassachusetts, 

 this role was deemed effective enough by 

 the U.S. Army Engineers that they 

 purchased the river flood plain rather 

 than build expensive flood-control 

 structures to protect Boston (D.S. Army 

 Engineers 1972). The broad, coastal 

 expanse of the Mississippi Delta acts more 

 as a storm buffer. Its value has to be 

 seen in the context of marsh conservation 

 vs. development. The full fury of a 

 coastal storm hits the barrier islands and 

 marshes first and it attenuated as it 

 crosses them, damaging little property of 

 societal value. Buildings and other 

 structures in this coastal zone are 

 vulnerable to the same storms, and damage 

 is often high. Inevitably the public pays 

 much of the cost of this damage through 

 taxes for relief, rebuilding public 

 services such as roads and utilities, and 

 federally guaranteed insurance. 



Esthetics 



A very real but difficult aspect of 

 the marsh to capture is its esthetic 

 value, often hidden under the dry tenn 

 "nonconsumpti ve use values", which simply 

 means that people enjoy being out in 

 marshes. The Mississippi delta marshes 

 are a rich source of information on our 

 cultural heritage. The remains of 

 prehistoric Indian villages, mounds of 

 shells or middens, have contributed to our 

 understanding of both their culture and 



the physical geography of the delta 

 (Mclntire 1959). 



Smardon (1979) described wetlands as 

 visually and educationally rich 



environments because of their ecological 

 interest and diversity. Their complexity 

 makes wetlands excellent sites for 

 research. Many artists have been drawn to 

 tiiem, notably the Georgia poet Sidney 

 Lanier, the painters John Constable and 

 John Singer Sargent, the Louisiana 

 photographer Clyde Lockwood, and many 

 other artists of lesser public 

 recognition. Each year thousands of these 

 artists paint and photograph marshes. I 

 suspect that many wetland visitors use 

 hunting and fishing only as excuses to 

 experience its wildness and solitude, 

 expressing that frontier pioneering 

 instinct that may lurk in us all. 



Confl icting Values 



With this long list of marsh values 

 one might expect marsh conservation to be 

 an issue that everyone would support. 

 This is not so, and the reason is simple. 

 The private owner of a marsh tract 

 benefits financially from very few of 

 these services. In Louisiana land can be 

 leased to trappers and hunters for perhaps 

 $25/ha/yr (Chabreck, LSU School of 

 Forestry and Wildlife Management; pers. 

 comm.). The owner has no monopoly on, and 

 cannot sell, the fishery resources and the 

 improved air and water quality associated 

 with the marshes. 



To the owner the wetland is valuable 

 primarily for development - drainage for 

 construction or agriculture, or dredging 

 and drilling for subsurface mineral 

 resources - that can bring in thousands of 

 dollars per hectare annually. This 

 conflict between private ownership and 

 public services is becoming more intense 

 everywhere as population density 



increases, but it is particularly 

 impassioned in wetlands for several 

 reasons. First, population density and 

 development pressure are particularly high 

 on coasts; second, marshes are open 

 systems that cannot be considered in 

 isolation; and third, marsh development is 

 essentially irreversible. 



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