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CO In the Southeast the channelization of a large number of river 



Z systems under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers is destroy- 



j ing the flood-plain forests and associated wetlands. An analysis of the 



uj Alcovy River in Georgia by Wharton (1970) clearly demonstrates the 



importance of evaluating these habitats on a multiple use basis. Their 

 value to society has been estimated to be $7 million per year, a figure 

 that exceeds the agricultural benefits derived from their conversion. 



Major dams for hydroelectric power, flood control, and irrigation 

 have already modified many river systems throughout the country. In 

 some instances these activities have produced new wetlands around the 

 periphery of reservoirs, but many of these are unproductive due to the 

 great seasonal fluctuations in water levels to which they are subjected. 

 Agricultural activities south of Lake Okeechobee in Florida have been 

 facilitated by a major system of canals and flood gates under the ju- 

 risdiction of the Army Corps of Engineers. This scheme has inter- 

 rupted the normal southward flow of water from central Florida, 

 thereby placing the entire Everglades ecosystem in jeopardy (Wildlife 

 Society 1970). The proposed international jetport would have had still 

 further adverse impact on Everglades National Park. When the water 

 table drops on a wetland such as the Everglades, that is underlain by 

 extensive peat deposits, the ecosystem, which may have been shaped 

 by fires under normal circumstances, becomes vulnerable to this en- 

 vironmental factor, and the peat itself may become consumed to con- 

 siderable depths. 



The Cross Florida Canal is a further potential threat to the integrity 

 of the hydrologic regime in south Florida. This development, if it 

 should be completed, would destroy the Oklawaha, one of the finest 

 wild rivers in the country, and a magnificent swamp forest. 



Drainage of wetlands for agriculture has been taking place 

 throughout the country, and notably in the prairie pothole country, 

 where over half the wetlands were already drained by 1950, and ap- 

 proximately 125,000 acres were drained between 1965 and 1968 

 (Harmon 1970). Agricultural interests have been working at cross pur- 

 poses with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and federal funds have 

 been squandered in the process. The extensive "Tule Lakes" of the 

 Central Valley of California are another wetland complex that has 

 been greatly reduced and modified by drainage. These wetlands have 

 also suffered from the impact of pesticides that have washed or 

 leached into them from the surrounding fields. In the arid Southwest, 

 irrigation, pumping from wells, and erosion brought about by overgraz- 

 ing have lowered water tables, resulting in the desiccation of wetlands 

 locally known as cienegas. 



Timber harvest in the swamp forests has been taking place wherever 

 merchantable stands are found. The bottomlands in the Mississippi 

 Basin and along the Atlantic Coastal Plain have been extensively ex- 

 ploited, despite the difficulty of operating in the swamps. The state- 



