The latest Status and Trends of Wetlands in the Conterminous United States claims a net gain in wetlands, but the truth may not be that simple.
On March 30, 2006, former Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton, announced that the US had turned the corner on wetland loss and had, in fact, seen a gain in wetland acres over the time period of the latest report. But as is too often the case, the devil is in the details.
The wetlands inventory report does not differentiate between storm water, retention ponds and shallow marshes — lumping everything from fish ponds to cypress swamps into one, big, wet lie. While we may be gaining areas that are wet, we are not gaining quality wetlands.
It may be arguable that water is water; however, decorative water features in designer neighborhoods are not equal to the dynamic ecosystem of a wild marsh or natural prairie pothole.
More golf courses and Koi ponds are not the answer to the continued loss of quality wetland habitat — loss that threatens the long-term health of North American waterfowl populations.
Waterfowler.com urges all our readers to look beyond the skewed results of this report and continue their long-standing dedication to conservation. Your financial support of organizations such as Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, The Nature Conservancy, and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership are as critical now as they have ever been. These organizations have shown through years of dedication that they understand the value of quality wetlands for wildlife and sportsman.
