Mahan Massacre petition update: last chance to sign!
Tallahassee and Big Bend area residents: Thanks to your support we have generated nearly 900 signatures opposed to the Mahan Massacre! Our opposition to this development, called "the poster child for urban sprawl" by Tallahassee City Commissioner Debbie Lightsey, was featured in an article in the Tallahassee Democrat (reprinted in full below) and became a topic of lengthy discussion on the WFLA 100.7 FM morning show.
Soon we will deliver our petition to Secretary Pelham and the Department of Community Affiars. Now is the time to help us reach our goal of one thousand signatures! CLICK THE PICTURE BELOW IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SIGNED THE PETITION! If you have already signed, please help spread the word!
Petition aims to stop Mahan project Group says Rockaway development would lead to urban sprawl By Julian Pecquet Tallahassee Democrat July 22, 2008
Leon County commissioners may have signed off on the idea, but some residents are lobbying the state to turn down land-use changes that would allow a large residential development in rural eastern Leon County.
Progress Florida, a new statewide liberal-leaning group, has gathered more than 500 local signatures against the change, said executive director Mark Ferrulo. The group is based in Bradenton, but Ferrulo worked with Tallahassee-based groups, including Environment Florida, for years. The group is calling the proposed Rockaway development the "Mahan Massacre," and has vowed to stop it.
"We're hopeful the (state) will recognize it for what it is — a poster child for urban sprawl," Ferrulo said. "The thing that's so outrageous is that the County Commission approved it despite their own planners telling them this is a bad idea."
But former county Commissioner Gary Yordon, the spokesman for the development, said the petition was misleading because it says the change would allow up to 500 residential units — 10 times what's currently allowed — but fails to point out that the developer has proposed building fewer than 300 homes and conserving half the land. He said the petition drive's language — an e-mail to residents informing them of the petition starts ominously with "if you thought ... Fallschase ... was an abomination" — made it difficult to argue the merits of expanding development eastward.
"I'm sure you could alarm a lot of people with that. I would sign that," Yordon said. "If we've reached the point in our community where less than 300 homes on 500 acres is a 'massacre,' I would suggest ... that we've lost perspective."
The Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department recommended denying the change, because the development is outside the area where the local governments have said they want growth to occur. Still, Leon County commissioners voted 5-1 to approve the change and sent it to the state for review on July 2; city leaders, whose vote doesn't count because the development is outside city limits, opposed the measure.
After the state weighs in, a final vote on the measure is due Oct. 28.
Ferrulo said he hopes the drive will gather 1,000 signatures, which will be sent to the Florida Department of Community Affairs. His group was also involved in the fight against the construction of a Lowe's near the Everglades, which the Miami-Dade County Commission signed off on in April over its staffs' objections and which the department rejected Friday.
The petition can be accessed at http://www.progressflorida.org/page/s/mahanmassacre.
Today the Everglades are a little safer from poorly planned development.
Thousands of Floridians from around the state signed the Progress Florida/Hold The Line petition to Gov. Crist urging his Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to reject two developments, including a Lowe's big box retail center that threatened the Everglades. On Friday July 18th DCA did exactly that.
But our work isn't done. Lowe's, who still wants to cement urban sprawl to the edge of the Everglades, plans to fight this decision.
"We feel confident that the decision will be overturned,'' declared a Lowe's attorney in response to the DCA's decision.
There are 111 Lowe's stores in Florida but there's only one Everglades.
We need to send a message to Lowe's right now and tell them to protect the Everglades, not pave it.
We've made it very easy to send a message to Lowes CEO, simply click the picture below:
It seems like every day, some politically connected developer is proposing an unsustainable, poorly planned development somewhere in Florida. This time they're trying to expand westward into the increasingly vulnerable Everglades. Lowe's has 15 vacant acres inside the UDB, yet they are fighting to build outside the UDB on top of critically important wetlands at the edge of the Everglades.
This change in Miami-Dade's comprehensive plan was rejected by the DCA. That decision represents a major victory for the Everglades and for smart growth. However, it may be short lived if Lowe's has their way. That's where you come in.
We need to send a message to Lowe's right now and tell them to protect the Everglades, not pave it.
To send your message right now, simply click here.
The voice of Floridians made the difference in the DCA's decision, and it can make the difference again by putting pressure on Lowe's to drop their legal efforts that threaten the Everglades.
NOTE: You can listen to Florida Public Radio's coverage of this issue by clicking here.
Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. View/subscribe to our blog here.
Endangered Wood Storks nesting in Fred George Basin, May 2008
Note: This has been an active and successful wood stork mating season in Fred George Basin.Preliminary estimates for the Wildwood rookery suggest about a 75% nesting success rate.Unfortunately, historically large colonies in the south are being ravaged by drought and overdevelopment as evidenced by the article below.The protection of wood stork nesting and core foraging areas in places like Fred George Basin is more critical now than ever.Read on…
Here's one first no one is celebrating: For the first time in 50 years, wood storks have not returned to nest at Corkscrew Swamp for two consecutive years.
And with the potential for a third year looming on the horizon, wood stork experts are concerned about what could happen to the species.
"Wood storks are an indicator," said Jason Lauritsen, a science coordinator at the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. "The wood stork is the gauge. The wood stork lets us know what's going on out there."
What's going on out there is a drought. And that, paired with continuing development throughout South Florida, could be the reason the storks aren't returning to nest.
The water levels in 2007 were about 20 inches below average. Last year was the first time since 2002 that no nests or fledglings were reported. In 2002, according to an annual rainfall report, water levels were less than five inches below average.
There's a correlation between rainfall and the number of wood storks nesting each year, Lauritsen said. That's because the birds depend on having just the right amount of water in marshes, cypress sloughs and pine flatwoods to survive.
Wood stork nesting season can start as early as November, Lauritsen said. In Southwest Florida, though, wood storks have typically begun nesting in January or February.
About 15 to 18 inches of water is deep enough to provide enough small fish for adults and their chicks. It's also shallow enough for the adults to easily wade through to catch food.
But walk down Corkscrew's boardwalk and you'll find that there's not 15 inches of water in sight. The lettuce lakes are empty. And with only about an inch of water in the vast open space, it's hard to even picture it as a swamp.
It's not just Southwest Florida that's seeing a decrease in wood storks, though. Bill Brooks, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Jacksonville, said nesting appears to be down throughout Central and Southwest Florida.
"It's related to the drought that we have been going through, so conditions won't be right (in some areas)," Brooks said. "But as you move further north, the nesting conditions must be better. There is nesting going on."
Nesting is happening in northern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Brooks said Georgia saw a record number of nests this spring. According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, birds were found nesting in 24 colonies in 14 Georgia counties, resulting in about 2,225 nests.
In 2006, a record for wood stork nests was set in Georgia when about 1,900 were found.
Lauritsen said Corkscrew saw about 1,550 birds fledge — or leave the nest — in 2006. About 800 nests were reported that year.
"Southwest Florida has historically been the most important (place), but it has also been the most unstable," Lauritsen said. "There's more and more (wood storks) in Georgia and South Carolina. It is possible that those trends will stabilize. We lose them, but at least there are still storks."
Losing the wood stork is a risk. The stork was listed on the federal endangered species list in 1984, but there have been efforts to downgrade the species to threatened. Brooks said a five-year study showed the birds could be considered threatened, not endangered, but said that could change since nesting numbers are lower than expected.
Not only does losing the wood stork mean losing an important gauge on what's going on in the environment, Lauritsen said it also means people will lose an "amazing" creature.
"It's amazing," he said as he talked about the birds learning how to fly. "It's awesome. They're reckless acrobats."
It's too early to tell whether the birds will be back to nest next year, Lauritsen said. But he also said people shouldn't depend solely on the weather to bring the birds back.
"If we're betting on recovering the wood stork and betting on the weather ... (the weather) is something we can't control," he said.
Due to dryness in the past year, moon vine has taken over much of the lettuce lake area of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, a habitat that is normally comfortable nesting ground for wood storks. The species became listed as endangered in 1984, but has generally thrived in southwest Florida until the drought conditions of the last two years. According to biologist Jason Lauritsen, "Southwest Florida has historically been the most important region for wood storks in biologists' minds, but also the most vulnerable due to land use changes."
Tallahassee-area residents: CLICK THE PICTURE BELOW TO SIGN THE PETITION!
If you thought the Fallschase development on Mahan Drive was an abomination, wait until you see the newest plan another big developer has for this once picturesque, unique gateway into Tallahassee.
Known as the "Rockaway" project, this proposed development will allow up to 500 residential units in a rural area currently zoned for 50.
Making matters worse, the Leon County Commission has given preliminary approval to change the county's official blueprint for growth to allow it.
Please take a few seconds to sign a petition to Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Secretary Tom Pelham, urging him to oppose this change to Leon County's growth plan that only benefits one deep-pocketed developer.Then, please forward this Email to your family and friends.Follow this link to sign the petition:
If you're tired of more traffic, more pollution, more overcrowded schools and more taxpayer dollars needed to pay for the impacts of poorly planned growth, then take action today.
Located at the intersection of Mahan drive and Wadesboro road, the proposed "Rockaway" development has been called "the poster child for urban sprawl," by Tallahassee City Commissioner Debbie Lightsey.
The Tallahassee City Commission voted unanimously to oppose this massive new development located outside the Urban Services Area, and the Planning Department for the city and county said this level of development is out of compliance with our own comprehensive plan.
Despite this opposition, and the opposition of a dozen neighboring residents who waited for hours to testify against the development, the Leon County Commission voted 5-1 to move forward with amending Leon County's growth plan to accommodate the wishes of one politically connected and deep-pocketed developer.Commissioner Cliff Thaell was the only one who voted against it.(Commissioner Bob Rackleff was out of town but strongly opposes this reckless development.)
Because the proposed development by Rockaway LLP of Jacksonville is outside the city limit, the county commission's vote is the one that counts.Now, the state DCA will review the proposed change to Leon County's Comprehensive Plan and that's where you come in.
Please take a few seconds to sign a petition to DCA Secretary Tom Pelham, urging him to oppose this request to change Leon County's growth plan to benefit one deep-pocketed developer.Then, please forward this Email to your family and friends. Follow this link to sign the petition:
We have the power to change Florida when we work together.That's why Progress Florida exists -- to give progressive Floridians a stronger voice at the state and local level.Progress Florida offers busy folks fast, easy, and fun ways to make a difference and win progressive solutions for Florida.Learn more by visiting www.ProgressFlorida.org
Sincerely,
The Progress Florida Team
PS:We're powered entirely by grassroots energy, creativity and support.If you have any questions, please visit our site or reply to this email.To make a donation online, go to: http://progressflorida.org/contribute
Progress?
RELATED INFO
Support Hold The Line if you are in the Miami-Dade area.
Despite a very tight budget year, and despite painful cuts in health care, education and public services, the Florida legislature approved over $110 million in projects that were slipped into the budget without full and open deliberations by the House and Senate.
Among the most costly and destructive of these budget "turkeys" are $4.5 million for the new Panama City-Bay County airport and $7.5 million for a roadway to what critics aptly describe as the "Airport to Nowhere."
Please take a moment and urge Gov. Crist to stand with concerned citizens - rather than deep-pocketed developers - and veto funds for the wasteful Bay County Airport and roadway. Send an email to Gov. Crist by clicking here.
Deep-pocketed developers and their allies have pushed this airport with the false promise that a bigger airport will automatically bring better air service, and with it, economic growth. But airlines do not suddenly appear just because there is a new airport, especially in the current air industry climate. They come because a market is there that will deliver sizable profits. There is no such market in Bay County, nor is one projected for the foreseeable future. The growth and traffic that is projected for this area can easily be accommodated by the current airport, which is already underutilized.
For more information on this environmental and economic boondoggle, visit http://www.cleanwaternetwork-fl.org/issues_baycountyair.php.
Gov. Crist is expected to address the legislature's budget this week, so please send your email today!
Click the picture below to write Gov. Crist! .
Alternatively, you can email Gov. Crist directly at Charlie.Crist@myflorida.com. Feel free to use the sample letter below for a guide.
SAMPLE LETTER Dear Governor Crist:
I urge you to veto the $12 million in budget expenditures relating to the proposed Panama City-Bay County airport.
You are probably aware that the citizens of Bay County voted against this $331 million airport in a non-binding referendum in 2004. In addition, many major Florida newspapers, including the Tampa Tribune, St. Petersburg Times, Tallahassee Democrat, and Palm Beach Post, see it for what it is--Florida's version of a "Bridge to Nowhere" boondoggle.
The airport is not only a waste of money--it will also harm the panhandle's pristine environment. The site chosen will cause the destruction of 2,000 acres of wetlands and important feeder creeks to West Bay.
Please consider the best interests of Florida's taxpayers and our environment by striking these two items from the budget. Please put an end to the current and future drainage of precious state funds on this wasteful project. There are no items on the Florida TaxWatch "Turkey" list more deserving of veto than the two related to the Panama City-Bay County airport.
Thank you for your consideration.
[YOUR NAME HERE]
Note: You can view today's Northwest Florida Daily News press coverage of this issue by clicking here.
Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good.
Governor Crist can stop this. But he needs to hear from us right now.
Nearly a century of draining, diking and digging have destroyed half of the historic Everglades. Now South Florida officials have just approved two new developments that will allow urban sprawl to continue its march right up to the edge of the Everglades. They're jeopardizing billions in federal funding for Everglades restoration.
The Everglades belong to all of us, not a few wealthy developers. Send a message to Governor Crist -- urge him to stand up to the developers and protect the Everglades. Click here to sign the petition:
We have the power to change Florida when we work together. And that's why Progress Florida exists -- to bring grassroots Floridians together and give us a stronger voice at the state and local level. Progress Florida offers busy folks fast, easy, and fun ways to make a difference. Stopping big developers from paving the Everglades is just one of our first online campaigns.
It seems like every day, some politically connected developer is proposing an unsustainable, poorly planned development somewhere in Florida. This time they're trying to move Miami-Dade County's Urban Development Boundary (UDB) so they can further expand their tentacles into the increasingly vulnerable Everglades. The Miami-Dade County Commission has approved the new developments despite objections from planning staff, a veto by Mayor Carlos Alvarez, and thousands of citizens and organizations mobilized by the "Hold the Line" coalition. Not only would eliminating the UDB impact the Everglades; it poses a serious threat to drinking water supplies; would cause further traffic problems; and pave wetlands critical for flood control.
This change in Miami-Dade's comprehensive plan must be stopped by Gov. Crist's Department of Community Affairs (DCA.) That's where you come in.
Please sign the petition to Gov. Crist urging him to stand up to deep-pocketed developers and protect the Everglades. Then, you'll be given the opportunity to ask your family and friends to help by forwarding this message to them.
The Progress Florida Team - Mark, Damien, Ray and Jon
Are you in Florida? Clickhere to sign up with the Progress Florida network and and start making a difference today. Clickhere to befriend Progress Florida on MySpace. Recommended reading:Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics by Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas. Disclosure: Some Progress Florida staff members are also founding members of Wildwood Preservation Society.
Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. View/subscribe to our blog here.
An epidemic of extinctions: Decimation of life on earth Species are dying out at a rate not seen since the demise of the dinosaurs, according to a report published today – and human behaviour is to blame. By Emily Dugan The Independent UK Friday, May 16, 2008
The world's species are declining at a rate "unprecedented since the extinction of the dinosaurs", a census of the animal kingdom has revealed. The Living Planet Index out today shows the devastating impact of humanity as biodiversity has plummeted by almost a third in the 35 years to 2005.
The report, produced by WWF, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Global Footprint Network, says land species have declined by 25 per cent, marine life by 28 per cent, and freshwater species by 29 per cent.
Jonathan Loh, editor of the report, said that such a sharp fall was "completely unprecedented in terms of human history". "You'd have to go back to the extinction of the dinosaurs to see a decline as rapid as this," he added. "In terms of human lifespan we may be seeing things change relatively slowly, but in terms of the world's history this is very rapid."
And "rapid" is putting it mildly. Scientists say the current extinction rate is now up to 10,000 times faster than what has historically been recorded as normal.
By numbers: the earth's wildlife in decline
As nations meet for the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, these alarming figures will cast a shadow over government pledges to make a "significant" reduction in biodiversity loss by 2010. In fact, the report's authors say that global inaction has already made such a goal totally unattainable.
"It's very damning for the governments that are party to the convention that they are not able to meet the target they set for themselves," said Mr Loh. "The talk doesn't get translated into action. We are failing, and the consequences will be devastating."
Tracking nearly 4,000 species between 1970 and 2005, the team has not only revealed the destruction of the Earth's wildlife, but also pointed the finger at the perpetrators of this devastation.
Ben Collen, extinctions researcher at ZSL, said: "Between 1960 and 2000, the human population of the world has doubled. Yet during the same period, the animal populations have declined by 30 per cent. It's beyond doubt that this decline has been caused by humans."
The study picked out five reasons for species decline, all of which can be traced back to human behaviour: climate change, pollution, the destruction of animals' natural habitat, the spread of invasive species, and the overexploitation of species. At a time when America has finally added the polar bear to the endangered species list, it is emerging that the scale of species destruction reaches far beyond the headline animals. But as in the case of the polar bear, mankind's behaviour needs to be radically changed in order to stop this pillaging of the Earth's biodiversity.
The Yangtze river dolphin is a case in point. Scientists believe it is extinct, as successive searches for the freshwater mammal have proved fruitless. There are many reasons for its rapid path to extinction: collisions with boats, habitat loss and pollution. These factors all point back to one perpetrator: mankind.
Aside from tackling global emissions, the report recommended two ways that species decline could be combated – by avoiding the destruction of animals' natural habitat by overdevelopment or cultivation; and in avoiding the over-farming or fishing of individual species.
The implications of such drastic reductions in biodiversity are already having an impact on human life. "Reduced biodiversity means millions of people face a future where food supplies are more vulnerable to pests and disease and where water is in irregular or short supply," said James Leape, director general of WWF.
"No one can escape the impact of biodiversity loss because reduced global diversity translates quite clearly into fewer new medicines, greater vulnerability to natural disasters and greater effects from global warming. The industrialised world needs to be supporting the global effort to achieve these targets, not just in their own territories where a lot of biodiversity has already been lost, but also globally."
SARASOTA COUNTY — Anger over years of rapid growth fueled voters' overwhelming approval Tuesday of a ballot question aimed at protecting the county's rural portion from dense development.
Sarasota County commissioners are expected to vote next week to approve issuing bonds to cover the cost of public works projects.
The first round, about $55 million for expanding Fruitville Road to four lanes east of I-75, the extension of Honore Avenue and a bevy of sidewalk projects, is expected to come up for approval in July.
Plans are to borrow money in July and August for two other sets of projects. The first involves borrowing $14 million to pay for road resurfacing projects including one on Swift Road.
The second would be $15.5 million for projects including the remodeling of Elsie Quirk and Selby libraries, and construction of Honore Trail Park. The first projects expected to be completed include replacing the boardwalks at Ken Thompson and Lemon Bay parks, and the replacement of playground equipment at some county parks.
The anti-sprawl vote makes Sarasota County one of the toughest counties in Florida for new development, if not the toughest.
It marks the third time in 14 months that voters have approved a ballot question aimed at making it tougher for developers to bulldoze rural land.
An unprecedented alliance between the business community and slow-growth advocates -- two groups that have been at each other's throats in the past -- got credited with Tuesday's landslide vote.
"At the end of the day, the community really did come together," said Henry Rodriguez, an Osprey developer.
With all precincts reporting, 79 percent of voters approved the growth measure -- which requires unanimous approval from county commissioners for any project that would result in denser development in the county's rural half.
A low turnout determined the election, however, with only 16 percent of registered voters casting ballots.
Voters also overwhelmingly approved a measure promoted as an economic stimulus package for a local economy ailing from the real estate slowdown. Sixty-nine percent of voters approved giving the county the power to borrow up to $300 million to fast-track about 60 projects, which include four-laning Fruitville Road east of Interstate 75 and replacing the county's aging beach bathrooms. Money from a sales tax voters approved in November will pay back the bonds.
In a scene once considered unthinkable, developers, environmentalists, business leaders, county commissioners and neighborhood groups partied and celebrated at a restaurant in downtown Sarasota as Tuesday's results came in.
"Did you ever think you'd see this?" asked a stunned Cheri Luehr, a member of Citizens for Sensible Growth, the political action committee that spearheaded passage of all three slow-growth ballot questions.
Tuesday's vote marked the culmination of a citizen-led campaign to make it tougher for developers to win approval for projects on undeveloped land.
Last March, more than 70 percent of voters approved giving the county power over how North Port and Venice develop land that is annexed.
In November, 61 percent of voters approved a requirement that at least four out of five county commissioners agree on making changes to the county's master plan, which controls whether and how land can be developed.
Bill Earl, one of Citizens for Sensible Growth's founders, called Tuesday's vote "the capstone" of the effort to give neighborhood groups and citizens more clout in fighting big developments.
This latest anti-growth measure tapped into an electorate that worries about worsening congestion on local roads, the region's ability to find enough water to sustain growth and projections that the county's population will double in just a little more than 30 years.
It will be the last time voters will be asked to change the county charter to make growth tougher for a while. Part of the agreement between the two groups was that neither would launch another petition drive to get a growth issue on the ballot for at least six years.
Venice resident Jim Greenwood, 66, blames the current housing market malaise on unchecked growth. On Tuesday, he voted to strengthen the boundary on county land-use maps that separates urban from rural land.
"It's just greed and poor planning," Greenwood said. "I'm tired of it."
Venice resident Charles Ahrens, 83, agreed with Greenwood.
"I've been here 28 years and seen quite enough development," he said.
Even those who say they are not anti-growth complain that Florida's surge of growth during the first half of the decade was not managed well.
"I think we've got to be able to manage growth better than we have before," said Allie Lucas, a Sarasota business owner who also voted in favor of the ballot question.
We need your help to protect the Western Everglades and a water flowway called the Cocohatchee Slough!
There are five development projects underway--including two massive golf course communities--which threaten to destroy an estimated 1,140 acres of wetlands, including critical foraging habitat for the wood stork, an endangered wading bird whose U.S. population has plummeted more than 75 percent over the past century.
These developments include...
Mirasol and Saturnia Falls (a.k.a. Terafina): These have been approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is currently mounting legal challenges to stop these two projects.
Parklands: Originally, this development was approved by the three agencies, but thanks to an NWF-led lawsuit as well as pressure from activists like you, they were forced to take another look at the project. Unfortunately, the revised permit application still doesn't provide adequate safeguards for wetlands, water quality and wildlife.
Urge Col. Paul L. Grosskruger of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regional Administrator James Palmer of the Environmental Protection Agency and Southeast Regional Director Sam Hamilton of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to deny Parklands and re-think Mirasol, Saturnia Falls and the others.
Clickhere to stand up for Florida's Everglades and the endangered wood stork!
Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good.
Generally, wetlands are lands where saturation with water is the dominant factor determining the nature of soil development and the types of plant and animal communities living in the soil and on its surface. Wetlands vary widely because of regional and local differences in soils, topography, climate, hydrology, water chemistry, vegetation, and other factors, including human disturbance. Indeed, wetlands are found from the tundra to the tropics and on every continent except Antarctica...
For regulatory purposes under the Clean Water Act, the term wetlands means "those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas."...
Types Of Wetlands
Marshes
Marshes are defined as wetlands frequently or continually inundated with water, characterized by emergent soft-stemmed vegetation adapted to saturated soil conditions. There are many different kinds of marshes, ranging from the prairie potholes to the Everglades, coastal to inland, freshwater to saltwater. All types receive most of their water from surface water, and many marshes are also fed by groundwater. Nutrients are plentiful and the pH is usually neutral leading to an abundance of plant and animal life...
Swamps
A swamp is any wetland dominated by woody plants. There are many different kinds of swamps, ranging from the forested red maple, (Acer rubrum), swamps of the Northeast, to the extensive bottomland hardwood forests found along the sluggish rivers of the Southeast. Swamps are characterized by saturated soils during the growing season, and standing water during certain times of the year. The highly organic soils of swamps form a thick, black, nutrient-rich environment for the growth of water-tolerant trees such as cypress (Taxodium spp.), Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), and tupelo (Nyssa aquatica). Some swamps are dominated by shrubs, such as buttonbush or smooth alder. Plants, birds, fish, and invertebrates such as freshwater shrimp, crayfish, and clams require the habitats provided by swamps. Many rare species, such as the endangered American crocodile depend on these ecosystems as well. Swamps may be divided into two major classes, depending on the type of vegetation present: shrub swamps, and forested swamps...
Bogs
Bogs are one of North America’s most distinctive kinds of wetlands. They are characterized by spongy peat deposits, acidic waters, and a floor covered by a thick carpet of sphagnum moss. Bogs receive all or most of their water from precipitation rather than from runoff, groundwater or streams. As a result, bogs are low in the nutrients needed for plant growth, a condition that is enhanced by acid forming peat mosses.There are two primary ways that a bog can develop: bogs can form as sphagnum moss grows over a lake or pond and slowly fills it (terrestrialization), or bogs can form as sphagnum moss blankets dry land and prevents water from leaving the surface (paludification). Over time, many feet of acidic peat deposits build up in bogs of either origin. The unique and demanding physical and chemical characteristics of bogs result in the presence of plant and animal communities that demonstrate many special adaptations to low nutrient levels, waterlogged conditions, and acidic waters, such as carnivorous plants...
Fens
Fens, are peat-forming wetlands that receive nutrients from sources other than precipitation: usually from upslope sources through drainage from surrounding mineral soils and from groundwater movement. Fens differ from bogs because they are less acidic and have higher nutrient levels. They are therefore able to support a much more diverse plant and animal community. These systems are often covered by grasses, sedges, rushes, and wildflowers. Some fens are characterized by parallel ridges of vegetation separated by less productive hollows. The ridges of these patterned fens form perpendicular to the downslope direction of water movement. Over time, peat may build up and separate the fen from its groundwater supply. When this happens, the fen receives fewer nutrients and may become a bog. Like bogs, fens are mostly a northern hemisphere phenomenon -- occurring in the northeastern United States, the Great Lakes region, the Rocky Mountains, and much of Canada -- and are generally associated with low temperatures and short growing seasons, where ample precipitation and high humidity cause excessive moisture to accumulate...
Mangroves
A special kind of wetland found in the tropics around the world is the mangrove, which provides shelter to many kinds of tropical marine life. The roots of the mangrove trees grow in and out of the water, making a forest of roots where the marine animals can hide. The leaves and stems from the mangrove trees fall into the water, becoming detritus for small marine creatures to eat, forming the base of the food web...
Why do we need wetlands?
What’s so important about some mud and murky water? Wetlands are the most productive ecosystems in the world. Coastal wetlands support an enormous array of resident wildlife, as well as a fair amount of migrant species. Birds moving south from Alaska along the migratory route known as the Pacific Flyway, use Southern California coastal wetlands as rest stops where they can rest and refuel before continuing their journey...
Wetlands are essential nursery and breeding grounds for fishes, shellfish, waterfowl, and other wildlife. About 35% of endangered and threatened animals and plants in the United States depend on wetlands in some way...
Wetlands are also important in water purification. Waterways containing natural wastes and pollution are cleaned as they pass through forested swamps. Pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorus are taken in by many wetland plants as nutrients. Nutrient cycling varies from one kind of wetland to another. Decomposition by organisms such as bacteria, worms, and aquatic insects, release mineral nutrients as well as soluble organic compounds back into the cycle. By absorbing large volumes of water following a heavy rainfall, wetlands protect surrounding areas from flood damage and erosion...
Wetlands also have great economical significance. Seven of the ten most economically valuable fishes and shellfish require estuaries for breeding and/or for habitat: salmon, menhaden, flounder, shrimp, crabs, oysters, and clams. About 66% of the commercial fish taken along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States depend on wetlands for survival. Many of the food products we depend on need wetland areas. Rice, mint, and cranberries are grown in wetlands...
Disappearing wetlands
For all their usefulness, wetlands are little appreciated. Coastal wetlands are among the most endangered habitat types in the world, second only to tropical rain forests. It’s estimated that more than 50% of the wetlands in the continental United States have been irreversibly altered or destroyed. Wetlands everywhere have been filled in for development of housing, industrial plants, and airports. They’ve been dredged for use as canals, waterways, and marinas. Major highways arc over the streamside canyons and cut right through coastal marshes, causing habitat fragmentation. The natural processes of erosion and sedimentation are increased as much as 10,000 times by land development...
The increased sedimentation clogs waterways and causes water flow to jump natural banks, resulting in flooding.Sediment can collect at the mouth of a river, gradually cutting off the wetland habitat from the ocean. When a lagoon or other wetland closes, without the continual feed of tidal flow, the resulting conditions can have deadly consequences. Too much fresh water can kill plants and animals that favor a higher salinity. Water that is stagnant rather than flowing can become too warm and low in nutrients, with an improper chemical balance...
What Can You Do?
Despite the efforts of governments and private conservation organizations, pressures that destroy wetlands will continue. The problems of degradation of wetlands from pollution, urban encroachment, groundwater withdrawals, partial drainage, and other actions also require attention. Many opportunities exist for private citizens, corporations, government agencies, and other groups to work together to slow the rate of wetland loss and to improve the quality of our remaining wetlands...
First, state and local governments need to be encouraged to establish programs to effectively protect wetlands, especially inland wetlands, within their borders. Second, because individual landowners and corporations own many of the nation’s wetlands, they are in a key position to determine the fate of wetlands on their properties. Finally, all citizens, whether or not they own wetlands, can help protect wetlands by supporting wetlands conservation initiatives...
How Can I Make a Difference?
Get involved find out where wetlands exist near your home, try to learn more about them, and support educational efforts...
Support wetlands and watershed protection initiatives by public agencies and private organizations...
Participate in the Clean Water Act Section 404 program and state regulatory programs by reviewing public notices and, in appropriate cases, commenting on permit applications...
Encourage neighbors, developers, and state and local governments to protect the function and value of wetlands in your watershed.Learn more about wetland restoration activities in your area; seek and support opportunities to restore degraded wetlands...
When visiting a wetland, please remember that it is unlawful to collect any plant or animal specimens. Uncontrolled collecting can seriously impact a habitat...
Pay attention to the storm drains—don’t dump oil, paint, or any other household chemicals...
Recycle! Everything—from plastic to paper, aluminum to motor oil—that is recycled will help wetland communities. Recycling reduces litter, waste, and the consumption of natural resources...
Become a volunteer at a wetland. Nearly every wetland has "friends" group looking for volunteers to help with education and restoration projects. Find out how you can get involved...
