Status and trends information provides contemporary data about wetland loss and gains. Wetlands status and trends data produced by the Fish and Wildlife Service is used widely inside and outside of the Federal government. The Service uses status and trends data and reports for its own resource priority setting. Other government agencies and private sector organizations use status and trends data for their analyses of government policy, and for setting their internal guidelines. Several of the States have used status and trends information in the establishment of policy and legislation designed to protect wetland resources.
Wetlands provide a multitude of ecological, economic and social benefits.
They provide habitat for fish, wildlife and a variety of plants. Wetlands are nurseries for many saltwater and freshwater fishes and shellfish of commercial and recreational importance. Much of the overall decline in the rate of wetland loss is due to wetland policies and programs enacted in the past decade that have helped reduce the draining and filling of wetlands, while increasing wetland restoration, creation and enhancement. For analysis and reporting purposes, these types of wetlands were further divided into subcategories such as freshwater forested wetland, freshwater emergent wetland, estuarine and marine intertidal wetlands. The southeast United States, primarily freshwater wetlands of the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain, experienced the greatest losses.