WETLANDS: PART ONE
Wetlands on your hunting property can offer you considerable benefits, especially when it comes to duck hunting. But duck hunting isn’t the sole beneficiary of the blessings of a wetland. Wetlands are nature’s way of controlling flooding, erosion and filtering water.
All of nature is dependent on a symbiotic relationship from earth to sky. Wetlands are a unique ecosystem that needs protection and from time to time a bit of caring interference. This care, when done correctly and under appropriate guidance, can improve your property as well as provide you with a lucrative payback.
WETLANDS
Wetlands are defined by the EPA as:
“Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including during the growing season. Water saturation (hydrology) largely determines how the soil develops and the types of plant and animal communities living in and on the soil. Wetlands may support both aquatic and terrestrial species. The prolonged presence of water creates conditions that favor the growth of specially adapted plants (hydrophytes) and promote the development of characteristic wetland (hydric) soils”
-HTTPS://WWW.EPA.GOV/WETLANDS/WHAT-WETLAND
Surprisingly, one might be led to think that wetlands are soggy all the time, but in reality, by the definition above, that isn’t necessarily true. Of interest, wetlands can be found throughout planet earth with the exception of Antarctica. For our regional interest today, we will be talking about the category of “Inland/Non-Tidal Wetlands”.
Inland/Non-Tidal Wetlands are defined by the EPA as:
“Inland/non-tidal wetlands are most common on floodplains along rivers and streams (riparian wetlands), in isolated depressions surrounded by dry land (for example, playas, basins, and “potholes”), along the margins of lakes and ponds, and in other low-lying areas where the groundwater intercepts the soil surface or where precipitation sufficiently saturates the soil (vernal pools and bogs). Inland wetlands include marshes and wet meadows dominated by herbaceous plants, swamps dominated by shrubs, and wooded swamps dominated by trees. Certain types of inland wetlands are common to particular regions of the country.”
-HTTPS://WWW.EPA.GOV/WETLANDS/WHAT-WETLAND
CLASSIFICATIONS OF WETLANDS
There are four classifications of wetlands:
- Marshes
- Swamps
- Bogs
- Fens
Marshes are frequently overrun with water, and characterized by the tell-tale vegetation that thrives in saturated soil conditions. Examples of vegetation found in marshes are cattails, balsam fir, red maple, bog rosemary, wild calla, marsh bellflower, wild cucumber, and barnyard grass. Marshes receive most of their water from the surface but can be fed by underground water as well. Marshes act as a sponge slowing down flooding by storing the floodwater and cleaning up pollutants as they filter through. Marshes are divided into two categories: tidal and non-tidal.
Tidal marshes are found around the eastern coastlines and down along the Gulf Coast. Non-tidal marshes occur along the boundaries of rivers, lakes, and ponds. They are decidedly freshwater but can have instances of alkaline or brackish as well. If you’re big into “organic” then non-tidal marshes would be your favorite as they have some of the most mineral-rich sand, soil, and clay.
Examples of non-tidal inhabitants are: various breeds of waterfowl, muskrat, diverse small animals, Great Blue Herron, Red-Winged Blackbirds, as well as bulrushes, cattails, and many beautiful aquatic vegetation varieties. Prairie potholes, vernal pools, playa lakes, and wet meadows are all examples of non-tidal marshes.
Swamps are basically any wetland that is dominated by woody plants. Their vegetation includes: shrubs, such as Buttonbush or Smooth Alder; trees that are water-tolerant, as well as invertebrates, birds, clams, and fish. Swamps work in the same way as a marsh and provide food and sustainable timber harvesting. Types of swamps are Forested Swamps and Shrub Swamps.
I will leave you with several great resources for you to print and read:
- https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2021-01/documents/wetlands_overview.pdf
- https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2021-01/documents/types_of_wetlands.pdf
- https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2021-01/documents/functions_values_of_wetlands.pdf
- https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2021-01/documents/economic_benefits_of_wetlands.pdf
In Wetlands: Part Two, we will continue discussing bogs and fens as well as tackling the WRP- Wetlands Reserve Program. Wetlands are a great asset for your property as well as the community in general. A treasure worth protecting and maintaining for generations to come.
RESOURCES:
- https://nationalland.com/blog/another-way-to-make-your-wetlands-an-asset-the-wetlands-mitigation-bank/
- https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs144p2_013702.pdf
- https://pocketsense.com/can-owning-wetlands-decrease-homeowners-property-taxes-10133.html
- https://valuewetlands.tamu.edu/2015/04/10/conservation-expense-federal-tax-deduction/
- https://ruraltax.org/files-ou/Small-Farm-Tax-Guide-Chapter-4.pdf
- https://www.epa.gov/wetlands/classification-and-types-wetlands#marshes
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