(Washington) The Environmental Law Institute’s National Wetlands Awards has announced the winners of the 2015 U.S. Ramsar Wetlands Photo Contest. The winning photographs were taken at U.S. Ramsar Wetland sites in Georgia, South Carolina, and New Jersey.
Each year more than 40,000 acres of wetlands are restored, established, enhanced, and preserved to compensate for the approximately 20,000 acres of losses permitted through the federal wetlands regulatory program. Nationwide, an estimated $2.9 billion is spent annually on these compensatory mitigation projects. However, it is not clear whether this significant investment in compensation yields projects that are effectively replacing lost wetlands.
Success of Wetland Mitigation Projects
Wetlands law operates at the junction of private-property rights and natural resource protection. While wetlands provide rich and diverse species habitat, protecting and promoting water quality, the vast majority of U.S. wetlands are on private property. Federal law addresses wetlands protection and development in a complex manner.
Watershed Approach Handbook: Improving Outcomes and Increasing Benefits Associated with Wetland and Stream Restoration Projects advances the use of a watershed approach in the selection, design and siting of wetland and stream restoration and protection projects, including projects required by compensatory mitigation.
