Wetlands Timeline

Mid-1700s
Settlers dig ditches and drain what they think are useless swamps to
make their land suitable for farming. This included our first president George Washington who formed the Dismal Swamp Land Company in 1763 which drained and logged the DISMAL SWAMP.

1849
Congress endorses wetlands destruction for agriculture and development when it passes the Swamp Lands Act, granting Louisiana reclamation privileges for all federal swamp and overflow lands in the state.

1930s
The federal government shares the cost with farmers to drain wetlands; the Everglades in Florida are being drained to make room for farming.

1934
Congress shows some recognition of wetland values when it enacts the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act, in which fees collected from hunters go toward habitat conservation projects.

Late '60s, early '70s
The ivory-billed woodpecker, North America's largest, becomes extinct because, it is believed, of overlogging of mature bottomland hardwood forests, a type of wetland.

1972
SECTION 404 of the Clean Water Act requires a permit to discharge dredge and fill material into the nation's waters.

1986
The EPA vetoes an Army Corps-issued permit for a shopping mall in South Attleboro, Mass., due to questions about how mitigation should be considered and what constitutes a "practicable" alternative.

1987
As a result of a suit by the Sierra Club, the Army Corps is forced to
consult with Fish and Wildlife in a case involving a combined federal highway and flood control project in San Diego County, Calif., affecting 40 acres of marshland.

1993
The federal government closes a loophole in the Clean Water Act by adopting the Tulloch Rule, which prevents landowners from draining their properties prior to development to avoid wetland laws. (In 1997 a federal judge rules that agencies exceeded their authority by issuing the regulation. Soon after, a stay is issued by a higher court, leaving the rule in place.)

1996
The Army Corps approves over 99 percent of all applications to destroy wetlands. The highest rate of permit denials occurred in the early 1980s (it reached 4.4 percent) and it has steadily declined under Clinton to less than 1 percent.

1996
The Army Corps decides in favor of a two-year phaseout of the
nationwide Permit 26 process, which allowed fills of up to 10 acres in some wetlands with minimal review. The phaseout means more
applications will get individual scrutiny.

1997
The Sierra Club's analysis of U.S. flood damage shows that floods have killed more than 500 people and destroyed $34 billion in homes and property in the last four years.