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Why Protect Wetlands?

Wetlands are valuable to wildlife as a source of nesting places, protective cover, and food. They are the only home of some species of plants that have become quite rare. Wetlands improve the quality of both surface water and groundwater, acting to filter out pollutants and to separate water bodies from disturbance.

Wetlands inhibit flooding. They absorb water during storms and release it slowly, at a rate streams can better handle. During heavy rains, natural floodplains fill up, giving storm water a place to go other than our basements and roads. Wetlands and bordering high ground in public ownership form some of our largest open spaces, giving us a place for walks, skating, cross-country skiing, and quiet enjoyment.

For a long time, we treated wetlands as dumping grounds. We filled them to "reclaim" them and channelized their streams. We pay the price through diminished water quality, less abundant wildlife, and storm damage during floods. Protection of wetlands and floodplains in their natural state is a cost-effective alternative to the construction of artificial systems like treatment plants and dams, at public expense. Wetlands and floodplains serve us naturally.

Last Updated: 1/31/2010