Wetlands are at Risk

More than half of the estimated 221 million acres of wetlands originally present in the United States have been lost. In 1972, the passage of the Clean Water Act played an important role in slowing the rate of wetland loss. Even with this layer of protection, nationwide losses of wetlands most important to fish and wildlife continue to exceed 80,000 acres per year. Since 1986, America has lost over 2 million acres of vegetated wetlands and 1.4 million acres of freshwater marshes.

Wetlands are now more vulnerable than ever due to Supreme Court decisions in recent years that have redefined wetlands and other waters and stripped the federal government of its authority through the Clean Water Act to adequately protect this fragile resource. In the 2001 SWANCC v. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers decision, the Court eliminated isolated wetlands from these protections. Then in 2006, a pair of cases, Rapanos v. United States and Carabell v. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, weakened the Clean Water Act even further by removing protections for intermittent and ephemeral streams.

As a result, it is now easier for wetlands to be Polluted, drained, filled in and paved over.