US wetland losses accelerated over ten years—report

America is losing its remaining wetlands at an alarming rate, according to a new report.

The epicenter of the accelerating wetland loss is southern Louisiana, especially the region at and around the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area. A map accompanying the new US Fish and Wildlife Service report shows that the area recorded the highest incidence of wetland losses from 2009 to 2019.

Several Louisiana state parks are also located in the “red zone” shown on the wetland losses map.

The data was released in FWS’s new congressional report, titled “Status and Trends of Wetlands in the Conterminous United States 2009 to 2019.” The report was first published last week.

FWS finds that some 221,000 acres (about 90,000 hectares) of continental wetlands disappeared during that decade. Though wetlands are legally protected, the report says the losses were mostly driven by people draining and backfilling them for development or to expand agriculture.

As the service’s map shows, the salt marshes of the Gulf of Mexico coastline have been hit the hardest during the ten-year period. The new report estimates that about 2 percent of US salt marshes have been lost.

“Salt marsh experienced the largest net percent reduction of any wetland category,” FWS says. And these habitats continue to be threatened, the report’s authors warn. “Our nation’s remaining wetlands are being transformed from vegetated wetlands, like salt marsh and swamp, to non-vegetated wetlands, like ponds, mudflats, and sand bars.”

Wetlands are among the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems. They host large populations of year-round and migratory species that use them as waystations while migrating to and from feeding and breeding grounds. Wetlands are essential for the survival of migratory waterfowl like endangered whooping cranes.

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