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Two interesting articles during the past week again bring to the forefront the importance of wetlands and their conservation. A study, titled "Structural and Functional Loss in Restored Wetland Ecosystems", widely cited in the news, stated the obvious to many ecologists, but again raised the question of the effectiveness of wetland restoration. In North America, $70 billion has been spent attempting to restore more than 3,000,000 hectares of wetlands in the last 20 years.
The study reviewed the data from 621 wetland sites, both restored and created, throughout the world showing that even up to a century after restoration efforts, the effects of perturbation remains apparent. In most cases, the hydrologic regime recovers quickest, generally within 5 years, followed by animal populations, which recovers in approximately 5-10 years. Wetland plants, by definition very specialized species, lagged significantly, taking an average of 30 years or longer to even partially recover in comparison to reference sites.
The type and location of the wetland also played a part in the recovery or lack thereof. Inland wetlands fed by groundwater or precipitation fared poorer than riverine or coastal wetlands. Wetlands over 100 hectares, seem to have the ability to recover, seemingly because of their size, but the average restoration project today is considerably smaller.
Most importantly, the study suggests that rather than recovering slowly, some of the sites have changed permanently, despite restoration efforts, and will never fully regain their richness, former levels of biodiversity or functioning.
The US Army Corps of Engineers also announced a $50 billion, 50 year plan for restoring and reversing wetland loss through barrier islands restoration and the diversion of sediment from the Mississippi to the coast. Southern Louisiana has lost 1,883 square miles of wetlands during the past 80 years. There are many reasons for the wetland losses, including 10,000 miles of canals, dredging, ditching and sediment starvation. For the next 30 years, acreage loss should slowly decrease, followed by incremental gains of up to 2.5 square miles per year by 2061.
Taking both of these newsworthy items together, will the restored marshes of Louisiana be able to meet the challenges and the (rightfully high) expectations of Louisiana’s residents post Katrina? I hope so. However, it still seems that conservation is the clear winner.
References:
Citation: Moreno-Mateos D, Power ME, Comín FA, Yockteng R (2012) Structural and Functional Loss in Restored Wetland Ecosystems. PLoS Biol 10(1): e1001247. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001247
New Orleans Protection Plan Will Rely on Wetlands to Hold Back Wetlands. Fischetti, Mark. Scientific American. January 26, 2012.
Louisiana Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast
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In this weeks Supreme Court case, Sackett, et al., v. EPA , the Sackett's, landowners backed by a "veritable who's who in American mining, oil, utilities, manufacturing and real estate development, as well as groups opposed to government regulation." argued that the EPA has overstepped its authority by forcing property owners into an administrative nightmare with no recourse or chance of appealing an EPA administrative order despite knowingly filling wetlands.
According to the Natural Resources Defense council, documents obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Freedom of Information Act, show that the landowners disregarded the opinion of a wetlands expert they hired to evaluate their property in 2007 as well as ignoring overtures by the Army Corps of Engineers to file for a permit relatively easily and inexpensively.
Out of curiosity, I wondered if the property in question does contain wetlands as claimed by the EPA. An April 2011 NY Times article identifies a neighboring plot, so it was just a matter of plugging the address in the Wetland Mapper and freehanding the property boundaries in red. As seen below, the property is almost entirely comprised of Freshwater Forested wetlands (The code Code PSS1C is partially obscured by the box), and is also surrounded on three sides by wetlands.
While that the case also revolves around other issues than filling wetlands, it's apparent that the claim that wetlands weren't present is scarcely convincing at best.
Suggested reading:
Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (Excellent General Summary)
When Property Rights, Environmental Laws Collide
Mike Sackett, Idaho Man, Fights EPA Compliance Order
Idaho couple's permit fight drags wetlands back to high court
Idaho couple puts wetlands rules to the test in U.S. Supreme Court
Wetlands in the News
05 May 2024
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