35 



Table 4. Examples of recent wetland loss rates. 



State or Region 



Lower Mississippi Alluvial Plain 

 Louisiana's Forested Wetlands 

 North Carolina's Pocosins 

 Prairie Pothole Region 

 Louisiana's Coastal Marshes 

 Great Lakes Basin 



Wisconsin 



Michigan 

 Kentucky 



New Jersey's Coastal Marshes 



Palm Beach County, Florida 



Maryland's Coastal Wetlands 



New York's Estuarine Marshes 



Delaware's Coastal Marshes 



* Loss rate after passage of state coastal wetland protection laws. 



rates. With increased tension over water rights, remain- 

 ing wetlands may be deprived of sufficient quantities of 

 water to function properly. This is especially true in Colo- 

 rado where high population growth has increased demand 

 for water. Urban and industrial development is destroying 

 wetlands along the Great Salt Lake and near other urban 

 centers. 



Along the West Coast, coastal wetlands are generally 

 protected by state laws, yet they are still under heavy 

 pressure for urban and industrial development. Inland 

 wetlands remain subject to agricultural pressures, par- 

 ticularly in California's Central Valley and the Great Ba- 

 sin of Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho. Degradation of 

 existing wetlands through urban and agricultural runoff 

 remains a problem. 



Alaska's wetlands were once subject to very few devel- 

 opment pressures. With the discovery of significant de- 



3,055 



1,000 

 20* 



740 



444 

 20* 



U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 (1982) 



Redelfs (1983) 



O'Connor and Terry (1972) 

 Hardisky and Klemas (1983) 



posits of oil and gas and the subsequent pipeline 

 construction and energy development, many wetlands 

 have recently been altered. The oil boom has also in- 

 creased human population densities, resulting in in- 

 creased pressure on wetlands for urban development. 

 Increases in timber harvest, mining, and agricultural ac- 

 tivities are also threatening large areas of wetland in 

 Alaska. 



National Problem Areas 



While wetland losses and degradation continue 

 throughout the country, there are several areas where 

 wetlands are in greatest jeopardy from a national stand- 

 point. These areas and their threatened wetland types 

 include: (1) estuarine wetlands of the U.S. coastal zone, 

 (2) Louisiana's coastal marshes, (3) Chesapeake Bay's 



