Study Shows Significant Gulf Coast Wetland Loss A new study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and US Fish and Wildlife Service shows that wetland loss along Gulf Coast has far outpaced wetland loss in other parts of the United States. From 1998 to 2004, the Gulf Coast lost more than 370,000 acres of wetlands, a rate 25 times greater than wetland loss along the Atlantic Coast. As noted in a Mobile Press-Register story, much of the Gulf Coast wetland loss is due to development. The report should cause state and federal agencies, such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to take a hard look at their wetland permitting practices. As the GRN has often noted, state and federal agencies are far too lax in permitting wetland destruction in the Gulf Region. This study should serve as a wakeup call to the Corps and other agencies that they are failing to adequately protect our wetlands. A full copy of the report is available here.

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