Milford chronicle., 1962-08-24

support necessary for the enact
ment of Federal and State legisla-
tion needed to turn the tide of Wild
| life destruction.
Natural resource management
responsibilities carried out 10y Fed
eral and State agencies, plus a
growing concern for intelligent
planning on the community level
for land and water use, signify
that the American people are "a
Weakening to the fact that our her.
itage of rich natural resources
must be wisely used for the benefit
of the future as we'll as the pre-
sent.
Of critical Importance, especially
here in the thickly populated North
east, is the matter of halting the
destruction of our wetland h e
swamps, bogs, wet meadows and
coastal marshes. Altogether t o o
many people think of these lands
aus being good only for ducks, mos
uuitoes and muskrats, or consider
them as worthless land just wait
ing to be converted by earth-mov-
ing equipment for industrial or res
idential use.
Only recently have fishermen be-
gun to appreciate how important
these low, marShy lands are in
maintaining sport and commercial
fishing along the Atlantic coast.
Only recently have marine Scien-
lists begun to understand the COM
plex chemistry that makes up the
relationships between marshes and
the rich nutrients they produce to
support finish, shellfish, shore
birds, waterfowl and other forms
of animal life.
A few years ago, the U. S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, concerned a.
bout the alarming destruction
wildlife habitat caused by wetland
drainage, fill and pollution, con
Quoted nationwide survey of wet
land resources. 1t was hoped that
this study would encourage better
land and water-use planning where
by wildlife use of wetlands could
be reconciled with other needs for
these lands.
Bearing in mind that wetlands
are the richest and most essential
of all our country's wildlife habitat,
it was not surprising for this sur
vey to come up with an inventory
of 3S game and furbearing species
making use of one or more of the
20 types of wetlands. Of course,
the utter dependence of migratory
waterfowl upon wetlands, from the
Canada goose to the green-winged
teal, is known to most everyone.
Even though many species of wild
life are not so dependent on the
aquatic vegetation itself, the firing
es of wetland areas provide dense
vegetation necessary for food and
cover for squirrels, rabbits, grouse,
pheasants and many others. Moose
and deer spend much of their time
in shallow lakes and streams dur
ing the fly season. Snipe, rails and
racoons, although they do not live
in the water are inhabitants of
low, wet lands. The muskrat n d
beaver not only live in the water
but are tied right to the wetlands,
the muskrat subsisting ON aquatic
vegetation and the beaver serving
as am actual creator of wetlands
by reason of his extraordinary en-
gineering of dams.
But the most significant finding
of this study was the fact that our
Nations wetland areas are shrink
ing at an alarming rate. This can
be measured by the fact that more
than one hundred million acres of
land have been drained in h s
country! The effect of this destruc-
tion of migratory bird habitat S
well known to those interested in
waterfowl hunting. Besides e.
stroying breeding grounds, many of
t h e best resting and feeding
grounds along the migration routes
have been drained and lost forever
Draining for agriculture, mosquito
control and for industrial purposes