Jan 30, 2016 4 min read

The property had many acres of wetlands. The property reached almost 200 acres, but in reality was only buildable or able to support farmlands on a small percentage of that.

Why do we now go so far to protect the wetlands whose value is not so obvious?

Why does a farmer get fined for plowing a wet spot in the middle of an otherwise productive field? Cattails and algae do not make a beautiful flower bed. It is hard to fish at all in a true wetlands that is choked with plant growth.

And the muck underfoot reeks with the smell of decay and there are always the leeches and, of course, snakes. The swamp is the home of brown water snake, queen snakes and, in some areas of the south, the feared cottonmouth.

On the other side of the coin, the wetlands also are home of the wood duck and mallard. Without the wetlands many animals and birds could not survive. And once a species is lost it is lost forever.

When we think of insects and wetlands, the first thing that comes to mind are mosquitoes. Yet these wet parcels of land hold a high number of butterflies and moths. Dragonflies flit here and there and frogs chirp around the swamp visitor.

Time a visit right and the eye is greeted with wildflowers that have learned to live in this wet ecosystem. Pitcher plants, orchids and cardinal flowers all can call the wetland home. In truth, a wetland is alive and we only need to take the time to look.

It matters little if it is called a swamp, a bog or a mire, this piece of country does its bit to make life better for some critters and this two-legged critter in particular. Most everything about a bog involves water and water could be the most valuable and neglected asset this country has.

The wetlands are an asset to mankind when a flood occurs. It is nature’s storage bowl, soaking up and storing many gallons of water and lessening the amount of water flowing downstream. It can also recharge aquafer and groundwater.

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of a wetlands is their ability to filtrate pollutants.

The wetlands are nature’s sewage facility.

Much of the cleansing is done by the algae and bacteria breaking down nutrients and storing them in the muck under the water.

There are many tales of large cities where more than 50 percent of their pollutants is cleaned up by a nearby marsh. This story is being repeated in Florida and New York, Philadelphia and New Jersey. Many people drive by a wetlands giving it little attention and think of it as worthless. Remember a long time ago the wetlands was timbered.

It might be a large swamp such as Corkscrew in Florida or a smaller one like the area around the hiking trails just west of Conneaut Lake. The trail follows the old Erie tram trail and the canal that parallels it.

This is a place where the peepers chirp and the carp slurp as they suck in the plant growth. The trail can be reached by traveling from Conneaut toward Espyville. Just before the Blair Bridge, which crosses the very upper limits of the Pymatuming nursery waters, swing left into a parking lot. A bit of advice, however, don’t try this walk on a warm summer night, Mosquitos!

But if you wonder why we protect these worthless looking bits of wetlands, just find a book on the subject and read up a bit. You might be surprised.

• Don’t forget Block and friends will be scoring deer and bear Saturday and Sunday starting at one in the rear of Gander Mountain as part of the Washington County Sportsmen’s and Conservation League’s Outdoors Show at Washington Crown Center.

The show begins Thursday and runs through Sunday.

If you come early, register at the County League Table. The measuring session will be a part of the sports show and has been since the show first began.

Happy Valentines’ Day Felicia!

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.