Over the past 200 years, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

has lost more than 50% of its

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s.Stein, B. A., L. S. Kutner, and J. S. Adams (eds.). 2000. Precious Heritage: The Status of Biodiversity in the United States. Oxford University Press, New York. And even with the current focus on wetland conservation, the US is losing about of wetlands per year (as of 2004).Status and Trends of Wetlands in the Conterminous United States 1998 to 2004. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (December 2005), pp. 1-116. However, from 1998 to 2004 the United States managed a net gain of of wetlands (mostly freshwater). The past several decades have seen an increasing number of laws and regulations regarding wetlands, their surroundings, and their inhabitants, creating protections through several different outlets. Some of the most important have been and are the Migratory Bird Act, Swampbuster, and the Clean Water Act.

Legislation

Some of the laws and regulations with notable impact on wetland conservation are: *

Migratory Bird Conservation Act The Migratory Bird Conservation Act of 1929 ({{usstat, 45, 1222) of February 18, 1929, (also known as the "Norbeck-Andresen Act") created the United States Migratory Bird Conservation Commission (MBCC) to consider and approve any areas of land and/ ...

, ch. 257, , (1929) ::Established a commission to approve the acquisition of migratory bird habitat. *Rivers and Harbors Act, , (1938) ::Provides that "due regard" be given to wildlife conservation in planning Federal water projects. * Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act, , (1954) *

Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

(1956) ::Authorizes the development and distribution of fish and wildlife information and the development of policies and procedures relating to fish and wildlife. *Federal Water Project Recreation Act, ,(1965) ::Recreation and fish and wildlife enhancement must be considered by Federal water projects. Authorizes Federal funds for acquiring land for waterfowl refuges. * National Wildlife Refuge Acts (1966, improvement amended 1997) ::Numerous statutes establish refuges, many of which contain significant wetland acreage. *

National Environmental Policy Act The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law that promotes the enhancement of the environment and established the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The law was enacted on January 1, 1970.Un ...

, , (1969) ::Requires the preparation of an environmental impact statement of all major Federal actions significantly affecting the environment *Federal Water Pollution Control, ,('' Clean Water Act''), Section 404 (1972) ::Regulates many activities that involve the disposal of dredged and fill materials in waters of the United States, including many wetlands. *

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on W ...

(Treaty), (adopted 1973, enforced from 1975) ::Convention maintains a list of wetlands of international importance and encourages the wise use of wetlands. *Executive Order 11988 & 11990, Protection of Floodplains/Wetlands, (1977) ::Requires Federal agencies to minimize impacts of Federal activities on floodplains/wetlands. * Food Security Act ('' Swampbuster''), , (1985) ::"Swampbuster" program suspends

agricultural subsidies An agricultural subsidy (also called an agricultural incentive) is a government incentive paid to agribusinesses, agricultural organizations and farms to supplement their income, manage the supply of agricultural commodities, and influence the ...

for farmers who convert wetlands to agriculture. *U.S. Tax Code Reform Act, , (1986) ::Eliminates incentives for clearing land. Deductible conservation expenditures must be consistent with wetlands protection. Capital gains on converted wetlands treated as income. *New Jersey Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act, New Jersey (July 1, 1987)Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act
/ref> ::To preserve the purity and integrity of freshwater wetlands from unnecessary and undesirable disturbance. *

North American Wetlands Conservation Act The North American Wetlands Conservation Act (P.L. 101-233) (December 13, 1989) authorizes a wetlands habitat program, administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which provides grants to protect and manage wetland habitats for migr ...

, (1989) ::Provides matching grants to organizations and individuals who have developed partnerships to carry out wetlands conservation projects in the United States, Canada, and Mexico for the benefit of waterfowl and other wetland-dependent migratory birds. * Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act, , (1990) ::Wetland Reserve Program purchases perpetual non-development easements on farmed wetlands. Subsidizes restoration of croplands to wetlands.

National Agencies

There are a number of government agencies in the United States that are in some way concerned with the protection of wetlands. The top five are the Army Corps of Engineers (ACoE), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS),

Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

(FWS),

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

(NOAA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).Votteler, T.H. and T.A. Muir. (1996) Wetland protection legislation. In: Fretwell JD, Williams JS and Redman PJ (eds), National Water Summary on Wetland Resources, pp 57–64. USGS Water-Supply Paper 2425. US Geological Survey, Washington, DC. They each oversee a different aspect of wetlands conservation, from funding other groups or individuals, to regulating wetland use, to establishing new areas for wetlands restoration.

State level

Most states of the US have their own set of agencies that also oversee some wetland conservation. These are usually in the form of something like a

Department of Natural Resources This article lists subnational environmental agencies in the United States, by state. Agencies with a variety of titles and responsibilities are included, e.g. Department of Environment, Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of E ...

(DNR) or Fish and Game Department. These groups typically control licensing, hunting limits, prairie

Private

There are many private groups that practice wetlands conservation. The largest of these players is

Ducks Unlimited Ducks Unlimited (DU) is an American nonprofit organization 501(c) dedicated to the conservation of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, other wildlife, and people. It has had a membership of around 700,000 since January 2013. ...

, as they are one of a few focused nearly entirely on wetlands. Their mission statement is:

Ducks Unlimited conserves, restores, and manages wetlands and associated habitats for North America's waterfowl. These habitats also benefit other wildlife and people.Ducks Unlimited > Conservation
/ref>

They have conserved more than of wetlands in North America and influenced another .

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

, and Pheasants Forever are a few more of the large private groups that focus part of their time and resources on wetlands conservation. Individuals should not be overlooked in their contributions, as they are often the most direct route to protecting and restoring wetlands.

Conservation strategies

Nearly all wetland conservation work is done through one of 4 channels. They consist of

easement An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a propert ...

s, land purchase, revolving land, and monetary funding. Conservation easements can meet the needs of interested owners of working

farms A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

ranches A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

, timberlands, sporting properties and recreational lands, who wish to protect valuable

natural resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...

while retaining ownership of the property.DU > Conservation > How we conserve
/ref> In locations where wildlife habitat has been degraded & the land is for sale, DU will seek to acquire it. Once purchased, the habitat will be restored and easements will be placed on land to perpetually protect resource values. In special cases, where intact waterfowl habitat is at imminent risk or of high importance, groups or individuals may seek to acquire the property instead. Once purchased, the habitat is restored and can be entered into easements to ensure their continued protection or be kept in their ownership. Monetary funding exists most often as a subsidy,

grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...

, or tax-break from the government. Instead of doing all the work and labor themselves, they seek to encourage others to take on those tasks themselves. All of these methods are important to ensuring protection for wetlands, now and in the future.

References

{{Wetlands