Why the Concern?
America's WETLAND is the name of the geographical zone that includes Louisiana's coastal wetlands. In spite of its extreme importance to the well-being of the United States, it has suffered from a lack of identity relative to national recognition of the Everglades and Chesapeake Bay.

In many ways, America's WETLAND stands alone in its importance:

• America's WETLAND is an area of world ecological significance.
  • America's WETLAND is home to 79 rare, threatened, and endangered species.
  • America's WETLAND, the heart of the Mississippi Flyway, is the wintering ground for 5,000,000 ducks and other waterfowl each winter.
  • America's WETLAND is the North American gateway to hundres of millions of Neotropical birds migrating to their nesting grounds each spring and back home each fall.
• America's WETLAND is the largest and most threatened coastal wetland ecosystem in the continental United States.
  • America's WETLAND is 5727 square miles in size.
  • America's WETLAND contains 40% of all tidal marshes in the continental U.S.
  • America's WETLAND is experiencing 90% of all coastal marsh loss occuring in the U.S.
• America's WETLAND provides vital hurricane protection to the 2 million citizens living in the area.
  • Rebuilding America's WETLAND (Louisiana's coast) should be part of any comprehensive coastal protection plan
    • The belt of coastal wetlands - America's WETLAND - act as a buffer that reduces the impact of storms on coastal cities and facilities important to the well-being of America.
    • A sustainable barrier island zone, if reestablished, protects the integrity of the coastal wetlands behind them
• America's WETLAND is the most economically valuable coastal wetland ecosystem in the continental United States.
  • America's WETLAND produces 30% of all coastal fishes in the continental U.S.
  • America's WETLAND contains 7 of the top 10 ports for landings of commercial fisheries in the entire U.S.
  • America's WETLAND is the passage point for 30% of all oil and gas entering the U.S.
  • America's WETLAND is home to the NUMBER ONE port system in the U.S. - The Port of South Louisiana.
• America's WETLAND is home to one of America's most remarkable cultures - that wonderful mix we call Louisiana's Gumbo Culture, so named because it is formed by mixing a vast assortment of cultures and allowing them to merge their best qualities, just like the marrying of an array of seasonings in Louisiana's unique cuisine.

For these reasons and more, America's WETLAND is of strategic importance to the nation's economy, environment, and culture. The protection of America's WETLAND is important to the well-being of all Americans, and by extension, to the entire world.

The loss of America's WETLAND is at a crisis stage. Crises call for immediate response. It is imperative that all Americans understand their connections to values that originate in America's WETLAND - and take action to conserve and restore those values.