Frequently Asked Questions

Why Preserve Wetlands?

Contrary to the misguided myth that wetlands are worthless, wetlands have a important role to play in nature and civilization.

Wetlands reduce pollution. Wetlands act like a sponge to filter and absorb pollutants such as sediment, pesticides, herbicides, factory wastes, and heavy metals. Water-quality sensors placed at strategic locations in our wetlands park monitor its ability to process nonpoint source pollution.

Wetlands help control flooding. Wetlands regulate water flow, holding it in place so that the so that the land has time to absorb the water. Our wetlands park detains storm water to prevent local businesses and residences from being flooded.

Wetlands are home to a wide variety of plants and wildlife. More than one-third of the endangered and threatened species in the United States need wetlands to survive. Our wetlands park has had only a single species survey so far (focusing on plant species). While we hope to make additional surveys in the future, you can see the results of our initial plant survey in the Flora section of our web site.

Wetlands in general provide many other benefits. The abundance of wildlife makes makes fishing, hunting, fur harvesting, and even photography commercially viable. The dense vegetation prevents erosion of lake shores, river sides, and coastal shorelines. Wetlands absorb excess nutrients (such as nitrogen and phosphorous) thereby preventing algal blooms from exhausting the oxygen needed by fish and other aquatic life.

Our wetlands park provides educational and research opportunities to the neighboring communities. Over 35,000 school-age students are within 20 minutes' travel time, and an additional 35,000 students are within 90 minutes of the site. It is located within 25 miles (40.233 kilometers) of two universities (The University of Louisiana at Monroe and Louisiana Tech University) which have combined enrollments exceeding 22,000 students.

Although preparations for recreational and leisure use are not a priority at present, a crushed-stone walking trail has already been built. Since the wetlands park is surrounded by a rapidly-developing commercial park, restaurants and other merchants are readily accessible.

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