Chapter 1 



Summary 



INTRODUCTION 



The use of wetlands — the marshes, swamps, 

 bogs, bottom lands, and tundra that comprise about 

 5 percent of the contiguous United States and about 

 60 percent of Alaska — is a source of controversy 

 between those who want to convert these areas to 

 other uses and those who want them left in their 

 natural state. Some wetlands can provide natural 

 ecological services such as floodwater storage, ero- 

 sion control, improved water quality, habitat for 

 fish and wildlife, and food chain support. In addi- 

 tion, many wetlands are esthetically pleasing and 

 offer varied recreational and educational opportu- 

 nities. At the same time, these wetlands may pro- 

 vide sites for housing, agriculture, or commercial 

 development. 



Wetlands are usually characterized by emergent 

 plants growing in soils that are periodically or nor- 

 mally saturated with water.* They occur along 

 gradually sloping areas between uplands and deep- 

 water environments, such as rivers, or form in ba- 

 sins that are isolated from larger water bodies. Of 

 the 90 million acres of vegetated wetlands in the 

 lower 48 States, 95 percent are located in inland, 

 freshwater areas; the rest are coastal, saltwater wet- 

 lands. In addition, it is estimated that nearly 60 

 percent of the State of Alaska — or over 200 million 

 acres — is covered by wedands. 



Within the last 200 years, 30 to 50 percent of the 

 wedands in the lower 48 States have been converted 



'The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) used the term "wedand" 

 in 1952 to describe a number of diverse environments that shared char- 

 acteristics of both aquatic and terrestrial habitats — i.e., lands at least 

 temporarily inundated, but with "emergent" vegetation adapted to 

 saturated soil conditions. Presendy, there are two major Federal defini- 

 tions. One definition was established by FWS for purposes of map- 

 ping and classification of wedands; the second, more restrictive, defini- 

 tion was developed by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers and the En- 

 vironmental Protection Agency for the purpose of regulation. As a 

 result, FWS has estimated that in the mid-1970's there were 99 million 

 acres of vegetated and nonvegetated wetlands in the lower 48 States. 

 In comparison, the Corps estimates that its jurisdiction extends over 

 approximately 64 million acres of wedands. The differences in the 

 interpretation of what constitutes a wetland have led to considerable 

 confusion and a great deal of controversy. Disagreement exists, for 

 example, over whether parts of the Alaskan tundra and drier sections 

 of bottom land hardwoods should be considered wedands. 



to Other uses by activities such as agriculture, min- 

 ing, forestry, oil and gas extraction, and urbaniza- 

 tion. According to the most recent Federal survey, 

 a net amount of approximately 1 1 million acres of 

 wetlands in the lower 48 States were converted 

 to such other uses between the mid- 1 950 's and mid- 

 1970's.* This amount was equivalent to a net loss 

 each year of about 550,000 acres, or about 0.5 

 percent of remaining wetlands. The vast majori- 

 ty of actual losses — about 80 percent — involved 

 draining and clearing of inland wetlands for ag- 

 ricultxiral purposes. Although some wedand losses 

 were due to naturad causes such as erosion, sedi- 

 mentation, subsidence, and sea level rise, at least 

 95 percent of actual wetland losses over the last 

 25 years were due to man's activities. The best 

 available information indicates that present national 

 wetland-conversion rates are about half of those 

 measured in the 1950's and 1960's or about 300,000 

 acres per year. This reduction is due primarily to 

 declining rates of agricultural drainage, and sec- 

 ondarily to government programs that regulate wet- 

 lands use. 



At this time. Federal policies and programs do 

 not deal consistently with wetlands use. In fact, 

 they affect wetland use in opposing ways. Some 

 policies encourage conversions: tax deductions and 

 credits can significantly reduce wetland conversion 

 costs for farmers. On the other hand, regulatory 

 and acquisition programs discourage conversions. 

 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' regulatory 

 program established by section 404 of the Clean 

 Water Act, provides the major avenue of Federal 

 involvement in controlling the use of wetlands 

 by regulating discharges of dredged or fill ma- 

 terial into wetlands. 



For those activities that come under regulation 

 by the Corps, annual conversions are reduced na- 



*The analyses presented in this study apply only to vegetated wet- 

 lands. If unvegetated habitats, such as mud fiats, were included, the 

 quantitative estimates describing wedand trends coiJd change by as 

 much as 10 to 20 percent. However, the overall wedand trends in 

 the lower 48 States and the policy options discussed later are not sig- 

 nificandy affected by differences in wedand definitions. 



