Derrick+Beachley

MLA Style Weeks, Jennifer. "Protecting Wetlands." //CQ Researcher// 18.34 (2008): 793-816. //CQ Researcher//. Web. 4 Dec. 2009. .

1. The nation's millions of acres of wetlands are valuable natural resources.

2. Ponds, lakes, swamps, bays and marine estuaries not only shelter countless fish, birds and animals but also filter pollutants from water and soak up floodwaters.

3. Since the United States was settled more than half of its wetlands have been lost.

4. Areas like Louisiana's coast and the Florida Everglades are eroding daily.

5. The powerful construction, energy and agriculture industries say current environmental regulations make projects too expensive.

6. Supreme Court decisions have intensified debate over how broadly the federal government can oversee activities affecting wetlands.

7. The U.S. is now gaining more wetlands every year than it is losing.

8. Vernal pools are wetlands, areas where the soil is always or usually saturated with water and that support plants and animals adapted to moist conditions.

9. Many states protect vernal pools because they provide habitat for rare animals.

10. In Massachusetts it is illegal to dump materials into state-certified vernal pools, install septic systems nearby or cut down more than half of the trees within a 50-foot radius.

11. Estuaries mixed salt, and freshwater zones where rivers flow into the sea are among Earth's most productive ecosystems.

12. Shallow marsh channels are a good habitat for fish.

13. Birds migrating along the Pacific Coast stop to feed along the mud flats.

14. Lakes carved by glaciers across the upper Midwest known as prairie potholes are critical breeding and nesting areas for millions of geese and other waterbirds.