CAROLINA WETLANDS PAST TO PRESENT

Background

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has reported on the State of the Environment (2011) and the North Carolina Coastal Federation has reported on the State of the Coast – several years ago we realized we needed to report on the State of the Wetlands in the North and South Carolina. We started with our State of the Wetlands webpage and have periodically published scientifically based white papers. This report was produced by our Science Committee led by Ginny Baker Daniel. 

Purpose of the Report

The purpose of this report is to present an overview of the state of an important but shrinking resource – wetlands in North and South Carolina. The report will establish a baseline – as a basis for seeing future trends in wetlands in the Carolinas – by addressing the following questions.

• What are the functions and benefits of wetlands in the Carolinas?
• How many wetlands do we have, what are their types, and where are they?
• How have past and current land-use practices affected our wetlands?
• What other threats/stressors are there and how can we manage them?
• What is the current condition of our wetlands?
• How do we protect and manage this valuable resource through education, conservation, restoration, and other activities?

More information about efforts to manage this loss and rules protecting wetlands and changes to them in recent years can be found in the Carolina Wetlands Association’s Wetland Regulation, Permitting, and Mitigation White Paper (under development).