Wetlands in the National Parks

The National Park Service manages more than 16 million acres of wetlands, and is therefore a key participant in the preservation, restoration, and management of wetland habitats across the United States. Common types of wetlands include swamps, bogs, marshes, mudflats, shallow ponds, wet meadows, and similar areas. These highly productive, biologically diverse systems provide fish and wildlife habitat, erosion control, stream flow maintenance, water quality enhancement, recreational opportunities, and many other important functions. They are also known to harbor at least 35% of the federally listed threatened and endangered plant and animal species. However, wetlands are a threatened resource; fewer than half of the wetlands that existed in the lower 48 states at the time of European settlement still remain. Although many wetlands in National Park System units are in essentially pristine condition, others have been damaged by drainage, pollution, diking, filling, and related activities.

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Water Resources Water is a major factor in shaping our landscape. Through the processes of erosion and sediment transport, water forms many surface features such as valleys, flood plains, deltas, and beaches. Water also forms subsurface features such as caves. Natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon were, and are being, carved by water. (Water and the Environment, AGI Environmental Awareness Series) more