Like wetlands, vernal pools can often be protected from real estate development in order to protect the abundant wildlife dependant on them. Because obvious signs of a vernal pool may vanish during the fall and winter seasons, they must be identified and in some states certified, so that during the dry season developers won't strip the land.

This is an animated GIF depicting a
vernal pool going from wet in the
spring, to dry in the fall (if you
miss the animation, try reloading
the page). Learning to identify a
vernal pool during all of its seasons
is important to protecting them.

Through this site, we provide

• an overview and introduction to vernal pools
• links to supporting web sites that can provide more information

Our goal is

• to encourage you, our visitor, to use this site as a catalyst to learn more about identifying and certifying vernal pools in your area or state.
• to encourage you to not only learn from this site, but help the site to grow and become a resource by providing information back to us about vernal pools in your area or state.

We need your help! So please take a look at our information (we suggest starting with our link to general info) and if you would like to make a difference for the environment, send us new information to provide others. Thank You!