38 • Wetlands: Their Use and Regulation 



all swamps and overflow lands for reclamation to 

 reduce the destruction caused by flooding and elim- 

 inate mosquito-breeding swamps. A total of 65 mil- 

 lion acres of wetlands were granted to 15 States for 

 reclamation (81). 



With increasing concerns about preserving dif- 

 ferent ecosystems, the public's perception of and 

 attitude toward wetlands has changed gradually 

 over the last half century. An inventory of wedands 

 conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildhfe Service 

 (FWS) in the mid- 1 950' s perhaps did the most to 

 change attitudes about wetlands over the past three 

 decades (81). The introduction to the inventory 

 stated: "So long as this belief prevails (that wedands 

 are wastelands), wetlands will continue to be 

 drained, filled, diked, impounded, or otherwise 

 altered, and thus will lose their identity as wetlands 

 and their value as wildlife habitat. " The inventory 

 created the lasting perception that wetlands rapid- 

 ly were disappearing — a perception that galvanized 

 certain groups to preserve wetlands. 



Since the intrinsic values — recreation and a sense 

 of the need to preserve the unique flora and fauna 

 of scenic, natural areas — that motivated wetland 

 protection at the outset were not appreciated uni- 

 versally, proponents began to investigate more tan- 

 gible, ecological services provided by wedands. Ini- 

 tially, these other services were suggested in the 

 FWS wetland inventory report: 



. . . the storage of ground water, the retention of 

 surface water for farm uses, the stabilization of run- 

 off, the reduction or prevention of erosion, the pro- 

 duction of timber, the creation of firebreaks, the 

 provision of an outdoor laboratory for students and 

 scientists, and the production of cash crops, such 

 as minnows (for bait), marsh hay, wild rice, black- 

 berries, cranberries and peat moss (81). 



In his 1977 environmental message, President 

 Carter conveyed an attitude about wetlands that 

 stood in sharp contrast to the attitude of the early 

 1900's: 



The Nation's coastal and inland wetlands are vi- 

 tal natural resources of critical importance to the 

 people of this country. Wetlands are areas of great 

 natural productivity, hydrological utility, and en- 

 vironmental diversity, providing natural flood con- 

 trol, improved water quality, recharge of aquifers, 

 flow stabilization of streams and rivers, and habitat 

 for fish and wildlife resources. Wedands contribute 

 to the production of agricultural products and tim- 

 ber and provide recreational, scientific, and esthetic 

 resources of national interest.' 



Knowledge of the importance of the ecological 

 services provided by wetlands has increased steadi- 

 ly, especially over the past two decades. As wedands 

 research continues, knowledge about the values of 

 individual and different types of wetlands will, in 

 all likelihood, improve. For example, some wedand 

 services, such as ground water recharge, have been 

 found to be less significant than once thought. On 

 the other hand, the ecological services of inland 

 freshwater wetlands with the exception of wildlife 

 habitat are not widely recognized by the general 

 public. It is quite possible that some wetlands may 

 provide ecological services that are as yet unknown 

 or poorly documented. In addition, the overall sig- 

 nificance of continuing, incremental losses of wet- 

 lands is well known only in a few cases. Waterfowl 

 managers, for example, use the number of prairie 

 potholes in the Midwest to predict fall duck popula- 

 tions; without these wetlands. North American 

 duck populations would decrease by about half. On 

 the other hand, the importance of wedand-derived 

 detritus for estuarine fish and shellfish populations 

 relative to other sources of food, such as algae and 

 detritus from upland areas, is not well known. Fu- 

 ture research may resolve many of these uncertain- 

 ties. 



'Statement by the President accompanying E.xecutive Order 1 1990; 

 42 FR 26961 (1977). 



