What's a Wetland Worth?
What's a Wetland Worth?
Sierraclub.org
Wetlands Key to a Health Economy
America's wetlands provide something for everyone --they protect our communities from flooding, filter dangerous pollutants from our drinking water and provide life-sustaining habitat to irreplaceable fish and wildlife. The benefits of wetlands are incalculable, both for our economy and our environment, yet more than 120,000 acres of wetlands continue to be destroyed every year. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wetland Status and Trends Report, 1997). More than half of the wetlands in the lower 48 states that were present when European settlers arrived have already been lost.
Wetlands Protect Our Families From Floods
Wetlands can be the first line of defense against flooding. Just ask Louisville, Ky., schoolteacher Doris Wilson, who hadn't been flooded after 20 years in her home -- until last year. The summer after a neighboring developer destroyed a nearby wetland, her yard flooded,even though it wasn't raining. When it did rain, three feet of water forced her from her home for two months.
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