Wetland Restoration

Special Slideshow: Global Climate Change and Wetland Loss at Blackwater NWR
for the Society for Wetland Scientists May 28, 2008 (11MB PDF file)

 

Since the 1930s, over 8,000 acres -- or 12 square miles -- of marsh at Blackwater Refuge has been lost at a rate of 150 acres per year. The causes of this marsh loss include sea level rise, erosion, subsidence, salt water intrusion, and invasive species.

Over the years, efforts have been made to save the wetlands at Blackwater Refuge, and those actions have included extirpating over 9,000 destructive, non-native nutria; reducing the population of resident Canada geese, which devour newly-planted crops and marsh plants; reducing salt water intrusion; restoring 12 acres of wetlands in the 1980s; and restoring 8 acres of wetlands in 2003. But with the predicted increases in sea level rise, Blackwater Refuge will not survive without a major restoration effort taken on jointly by government agencies, non-governmental organizations and the concerned public.

The Comprehensive Conservation Plan that was created by the Blackwater Refuge staff calls for restoring the Refuge's wetlands to the same condition as in the 1930s. In order to accomplish this goal, a Mid-Chesapeake Bay Marshland Restoration Project has been developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Maryland Port Administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and the University of Maryland.

Visit the USFWS Blackwater Wetland Restoration page to learn more about this project and to see a video by Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, which explains why restoring Blackwater Refuge is vital for the state of Maryland.