Anyone who can tell dust from a 

 dewdrop knows it's the marsh, right? 



Actually, both areas are wetlands, 

 and both contribute in their own way 

 to our natural heritage and ecology. 



"Most people think of wetlands as 

 places where you slosh through," 

 says J. Merrill Lynch, a biologist and 

 protection specialist for the N.C. 

 Nature Conservancy. 



There's more to defining wetlands 

 than the soggy boot test. Some areas 

 that qualify are wet only a fraction of 

 the year. It is then that these drier 

 wetlands do what they do best — 

 absorb floodwaters like a sponge and 

 release them slowly into the ground, 

 surface waters or atmosphere. These 

 wetlands accommodate the spillover 

 from rain-swollen rivers and streams, 

 filtering impurities from the flow that 

 feeds coastal basins. 



Of North Carolina's original 11 

 million acres of wetlands, less than 

 half remain, the U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service reports. 



Wetland diversity in the Tar Heel 

 state is vast — from the nearly 2.7 

 million acres of bottomland hard- 

 wood forests that are home to grand 

 cypress trees and gum swamps to 

 wee winter puddles that provide a 

 temporary breeding ground for tiny 

 amphibians and food and shelter to 

 migrating ducks and geese. 



Equally diverse are the myriad 

 functions of these sometimes 

 enigmatic expanses. 



You don't have to travel far on a 

 North Carolina road before you spy a 

 blue bumper sticker proclaiming, 

 "No Wetlands, No Seafood." 



Most people know now that these 

 productive nursery wetlands for fish 

 and shellfish are the lifeblood of our 

 multimillion-dollar commercial and 

 recreational fishing industries. But 

 30 years ago, many of us would have 

 stood at the edge of a salt marsh with 

 only such words as "mosquitoes," 

 "muggy" and "miserable" seeping 

 through our minds. 



Black ducks pairing up 

 for the spring mating season 



Wetland 

 diversify in the Tar 

 Heel state is vast — 



from the nearly 2.7 



I 



million acres off bot- 

 tomland hardwood 



forests that are home 



I 



to grand cypress trees 

 and gum swamps to 

 wee winter puddles 

 that provide a tempo- 

 rary breeding ground 

 for tiny amphibians 

 and food and shelter 

 to migrating ducks 

 and geese. 



That salt marsh of three decades 

 ago is where much of the public 

 stands today in its understanding of 

 freshwater wetlands. Despite 

 evidence that these areas are equally 

 valuable, some people see only 

 swampy, snaky sinkholes of waste- 

 land and wilderness. 



"Scientists already know the 

 value," says Sea Grant marine 

 education specialist Lundie Spence. 

 "Now it's time to educate the 

 public." 



That campaign of enlightenment 

 might favor bumper stickers with 

 new messages: No Wetlands, No 

 Flood Control. No Wetlands, No 

 Waterfowl ... No Habitat, No 

 Erosion Protection, No Clean Water. 



Ironically, drier freshwater 

 wetlands, threatened by proposed 

 regulatory changes that could 

 exclude them from protection, are 

 the most critical in providing 

 functions such as flood control and 

 water purification. 



In the United States, flooding 

 causes more than $3 billion in 

 damages each year and kills nearly 

 200 people, according to a joint 

 report by the Environmental Defense 

 Fund and the World Wildlife Fund. 



Wetlands detain floodwaters, 

 reducing downstream flooding and 

 slowing these high-energy flows. 

 The drier the wetland, the greater its 

 capacity to absorb floodwaters. 



Natural wetland areas that have 

 not been filled or channelized can 

 reduce peak flow volumes by 40 to 

 60 percent, says Doug Rader, senior 

 scientist with the N.C. Environmen- 

 tal Defense Fund. 



Isolated wetlands, or as Rader 

 describes them — "black holes on 

 the landscape," prevent floodwater 

 from ever reaching permanent bodies 

 of water. Their destruction could 

 create new problems downstream. 



Wetlands are also the first line of 

 defense against surface water 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 3 



