The History
The history of wetlands in the United States is a story of exploitation and destruction. The United States at one time had 221 million acres of wetlands.
As European settlers began arriving in the United States wetlands began to disappear. In the 1700’s wetlands were viewed as swamp land that was filled with disease and prohibited travel and made agricultural activity difficult. Because wetlands were not seen as useful in the 1700’s they were disregarded and needed to be destroyed so that that growth could ensue. As the colonizers destroyed wetlands they were told to take the resources wetlands afforded without end. Not only would the resources of wetlands be exploited but also the actual drainage of wetlands began occurring so that the land could be transformed into farmland. Especially in the south where agriculture was a major factor of the economy wetlands were destroyed, almost to no end.
In the 1800’s the United State began to expand west and people began moving into wetland rich areas in the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. Large-scale wetland destruction was inevitable as technology made it easier to clear wetland areas. Canals proved deadly for wetlands because it allowed low cost transportation of timber. Agricultural improvements also proved deadly for wetlands as land that was previously thought of as unusable for agricultural not became useable with the improvment of farming technology. Wetlands were drained and converted and thousands of acres were lost to agriculture.
From 1860-1900 westward expansion continued and the innovation of railways opened new wetland areas to development. The use of timber alone for fueling was a major problem for the wetlands. By 1885 timber and the clearing of wetlands for agriculture had caused almost total destruction of the Ohio wetlands. At the end of the 1800’s drainage technology had steadily improved resulting in major losses to wetland areas.
By 1920 in the United States over seventy percent of the original wetlands acreage had been modified. That accounts to 154,700,000 acres of wetland acreage that had been modified. Most of the modification until the 1920’s came from levees, drainage and clear cutting. And as the population in the United States continued to grow urban and agricultural areas expanded they were expanded at the expense of wetlands. By the 1960’s the Federal Government continued to support wetland destruction they did so by supporting companies who were exploiting and destroying wetlands. From the mid 1950’s to the mid 1970’s 550,000 acres of wetlands were being destroyed each year.
This history of wetlands in the United States is one that has been destroyed, exploited for resources and drained to become viable as farmland. The destruction of wetlands and the environmental impact may not have been known early in the 1700’s or even in the 1800’s but today we do know the environmental impacts. These environmental concerns will be addressed further in the environmental impact of the destruction of wetlands later in the website.
http://water.usgs.gov/nwsum/WSP2425/history.html