Florida's Vanishing Wetlands
and the Failure of No Net Loss

EPA launches first-ever survey of the condition of nation's wetlands

Posted on April 10, 2011 3:37 p.m.
By Craig Pittman

The Environmental Protection Agency this month launched the field sampling for its first-ever nationwide assessment of the condition of America's wetlands.

The ambitious project is supposed "to provide regional and national estimates of wetland ecological integrity and rank the stressors most commonly associated with poor conditions." It begins with a pilot survey of the Gulf of Mexico coastal wetlands, some of which are still recovering from last summer's Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The final report is due in 2013.

Of course, if they do much sampling in Florida, they're liable to find a whole lot of wetland stress -- if they can find the wetlands. As we reported in "Paving Paradise," the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has allowed more wetlands to be wiped out in Florida than in any other state.

Ironically the EPA is launching this survey at a time when the agency itself -- and the laws it's supposed to enforce -- are themselves under a lot of stress. In fact, during the budget crisis, some elements in Congress were trying to limit the EPA's authority over wetlands. So it will be interesting to see whether, by the time on the nation's wetlands is completed, the EPA will still be in the business of protecting them.

Clean Water Act turns 40

Posted on Oct. 18, 2012 8:50 p.m.
By Craig Pittman

Today marks the 40th anniversary of passage of the Clean Water Act, one of the most remarkable, far-reaching and contentious ...

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Supreme Court gets a chance to botch another wetlands case

Posted on Jan. 8, 2012 9 p.m.
By Craig Pittman

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the somewhat tangled case of Mike and Chantell Sackett , whose ...

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U.S. wetlands are "at a tipping point" -- and worse off than report says

Posted on Oct. 13, 2011 10:05 p.m.
By Craig Pittman

The U.S. Interior Department issued its latest report on the status and trends of the nation's wetlands last week, and ...

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New study shows Supreme Court decision left wetlands vulnerable

Posted on Sept. 13, 2011 8:07 p.m.
By Craig Pittman

Last week the Environmental Law Institute released an extensive new study on the state of the nation's wetlands in the ...

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House casts historic vote to yank EPA's Clean Water Act authority

Posted on July 13, 2011 9:57 p.m.
By Craig Pittman

In a historic vote late Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to yank the Environmental Protection Agency's authority over ...

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