“Wetlands Make a Splash”
In Tennessee, NRCS will end the month of May with a total of 47,093 acres on 316 wetland easement areas, which is a significant contribution to the restoration and preservation of our wetlands!
American Wetlands Month was created in 1991 to “celebrate the vital importance of wetlands to the Nation’s ecological, economic, and social health and to educate Americans about the value of wetlands as a natural resource.” (US EPA)
Most of you are probably well aware of the amazing habitat that wetlands provide for all sort of critters, but did you know that wetlands are also critical for providing humans with clean water to drink? One of the lesser known facts about wetlands is that they play the role of nature’s water filter. Wetlands also clean out excess nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen from our water that are deposited there by industrial systems and agriculture. Finally, wetlands can assist in the treatment and cleansing of waste water. Of course if too much pollution runs into a wetland it can do harm to the ecosystem, but if managed properly, wetlands can be a critical tool in our efforts to provide clean drinking to people across the globe. (info taken from www.aswm.org)