The wetlands around larger cities are in the most danger. They are being filled in at an alarming rate, and most states in the USA do not have any laws regarding wetland destruction, or the laws are not stringent enough. Minnesota has a law in place where you must do your best to try and now fill in the wetland, but if all else fails and you have to build there, then you have to "build" a wetland somewhere of the same size that was destroyed, and make sure it follows out the same functions as the wetland you destroyed. But how can this be assured? The water in that area now has one less place to flow. So when spring comes around and there are flooding problems, who is to blame?
When a construction company drains a wetland, they are destroying a huge area, and even posing a threat to the local water system. When an area looses a wetland, it makes the area more prone to flooding, as the wetlands soak up extra water. The wetlands also "filter" the water that comes into it, making the quality of the water that flows from the wetland better.
Destroying these wetlands also causes major destruction to animals that live in, around, or use the wetland. Being a Minnesota native, I have heard all the "old men" say that duck hunting here used to be the best in the world. That was before Minnesota was as populated and so many cities, but still was only 50 years or so ago. A major cause of this is the fact that so many of the wetlands that migratory birds have used for hundreds of years are disappearing, and disappearing fast. Minnesota used to see a substantial flyway, now that flyway has shifted West into North Dakota, where most of the states wetlands are still the same way they were many years ago.
But ducks are not the only animal that is hurt from the destruction of wetlands. Deer, eagles, varmints, fish, etc., all suffer from losing a place where there was water and food.
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