Executive Summary 



This report identifies the current status of U.S. wetlands and major areas where wetlands are in greatest jeopardy from 

 the national standpoint. It also presents e.xisting regional and national information on wetland trends. The report is 

 divided into six chapters: (1) Introduction. (2) What Is a Wetland?, (3) Major Wetland Types of the United States, (4) 

 Why Are Wetlands Important?. (5) Current Status and Trends of U.S. Wetlands, and (6) The Future of America's 

 Wetlands. 



Wetlands include the variety of marshes, swamps and bogs that occur throughout the country. They range from red 

 maple swamps and black spruce bogs in the northern states to salt marshes along the coasts to bottomland hardwood 

 forests in the southern statfes to prairie potholes in the Midwest to playa lakes and riparian wetlands in the western states 

 to the wet tundra of Alaska. 



The Fish and Wildlife Service has developed a scientifically sound wetland definition and classification system to 

 inventory the Nation's wetlands. The bulk of America's wetlands fall into two ecological systems: (I) Estuarine 

 System and (2) Palustrine System. The Estuarine System includes salt and brackish tidal marshes, mangrove swamps 

 and intertidal fiats, while the Palustrine System encompasses the vast majority of the country's inland marshes, bogs, 

 and swamps. 



Wetlands produce many benefits for society besides providing homes for many fish and wildlife species. Some of the 

 more important public values of wetlands include flood control, v/ater quality maintenance, erosion control, timber 

 and other natural products for man's use, and recreation. 



Approximately 215 million acres of wetlands existed in the conterminous U.S (i.e., lower 48 states) at the time of the 

 Nation's settlement. In the mid-1970's, only 99 million acres remained, leaving just 46% of the original wetland 

 acreage. The U.S. wetland resource for the lower 48 states encompassed 93.7 million acres of palustrine wetlands and 

 5.2 million acres of estuarine wetlands. Wetlands now cover about 5% of the land surface of the lower 48 states. The 

 total wetland acreage for the lower 48 states amounts to an area roughly the size of California. 



Between the mid-I950's and the mid-I970's, about 1 1 million acres of wetland were lost, while 2 million acres of new 

 wetland were created. Thus, in that 20-year interval, a net loss of 9 million acres of wetland occurred. This acreage 

 equates to an area about twice the size of New Jersey. 



Annual wetland losses averaged 458.000 acres; 440,000 acres of palustrine losses and 18,000 acres of estuarine 

 wetland losses. This annual loss equals an area about half the size of Rhode Island. Agricultural development was 

 responsible for 87% of recent national wetland losses. Urban development and other development caused only 8% and 

 5% of the losses, respectively. 



The most extensive wetland losses occurred in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, North Carolina, North Dakota, 

 South Dakota. Nebraska. Florida and Texas. Greatest losses of forested wetlands took place in the lower Mississippi 

 Valley with the conversion of bottomland hardwood forests to farmland. Shrub wetlands were hardest hit in North 

 Carolina where pocosin wetlands are being converted to cropland or pine plantations or mined for peat. Inland marsh 

 drainage for agriculture was most significant in the Prairie Pothole Region of the Dakotas and Minnesota. Nebraska's 

 Sandhills and Rainwater Basin and Florida's Everglades. Between the mid-1950's and mid-1970's, estuarine wetland 

 losses were heaviest in the Gulf states, i.e., Louisiana, Florida, and Texas. Most of Louisiana's coastal marsh losses 

 were attributed to submergence by coastal waters. In other areas, urban development was the major direct man- 

 induced cause of coastal wetland loss. Dredge and fill residential development in coastal areas was most significant in 

 Florida, Texas, New Jersey. New York, and California. 



The future of the Nation's wetlands depends on the actions of public agencies, private industry, and private groups and 

 individuals. Recent population and agricultural trends point to increased pressure for converting wetlands to other 

 uses, especially cropland. Increased wetland protection efforts by all levels of government and by private parties are 

 needed to halt or slow wetland losses and to enhance the quality of the remaining wetlands. Major protection options 

 are outlined in the report. 



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