A wet land; a bog, fen, marsh, estuary. Wetlands are rich in nutrients, unique in ecosystems, and hospitable to many forms of life, including birds on long flyways. They also filter pollutants out of the water and ease the force of passing floods. The Florida Everglades performed these and other ecologically beneficial activities until 1905, when a governor with the remarkably apt name of Napoleon Bonaparte Broward led the push to dredge, fill, dig, and canal; the resulting floods, stagnation, salinization, fish kills, bird deaths, agricultural runoffs, drought, groundwater depletion, and fire potential have not yet been brought under control. In the United States, farmers were encouraged to allow acreage for wetlands until the Bush Administration not only ended the incentives, but eased regulations in filling in existing wetlands. See Estuarine Zone.
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