Each morning that I can, I sit on my back deck and enjoy a cup of coffee, and take in the peacefulness and natural surroundings around me. I live in Indianapolis, and my view includes six ash trees that tower between my yard and my neighbors. It has been an investment, but I have no regrets about my decision to protect them from the emerald ash borer beetle when my wife and I purchased our home ten years ago.
What is the value of a mature hardwood tree? These particular trees enhance my own quality of life through their beauty and their shade. They provide habitat for squirrels, birds and other wildlife. They reduce the drainage onto my neighbor’s yard, downhill from me; they reduce erosion on that slope and each tree can store over a ton of CO2 that would otherwise contribute to climate change. They are also rare and practically irreplaceable.
And it is this idea of scarcity of our valued natural resources that I want to explore. For so long, society has seen nature as abundant and ready to provide for our housing, development, minerals and land for agriculture. But we have passed the point where the value of exploiting natural resources for our benefit exceeds the value of leaving those resources untouched. Our natural infrastructure of wetlands, forests, and prairies play critical roles for our quality of life and our wildlife survival, but they are disappearing at alarming rates.
Take Indiana’s wetlands, for example. A study by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the mid-1980s stated that around 85% of Indiana’s original wetlands no longer exist and that number has only increased since then. Let’s be clear: Indiana’s vanishing wetlands provide much-needed services that are not easily – or affordably – duplicated. Wetlands absorb and hold excess water from storms, flooding, and water runoff.
How they help
Wetlands allow water to gradually seep down and refill our underground aquifers. This is important because we are constantly pumping water out of our aquifers to maintain our lives, industry and agriculture. Rain that simply hits concrete, roofs, and ground without deep rooted vegetation (such as our typical lawns and farm fields) rushes into streams and rivers, eventually flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, rather than refilling our aquifers. Rapidly moving water creates dramatic and costly land loss through erosion. Finally, as water is held and passes through wetlands, sediments, pollutants and excess nutrients which contribute to algae blooms are removed.
The value of wetlands is quantifiable: Indiana DNR estimates that Indiana’s current wetlands provide around $3 billion in natural infrastructure services annually! This is in addition to the nearly $5 billion of annual economic impact related to recreation. The DNR also reports that Indiana wetlands received 2.1 million visitors in 2016 and outdoor recreation has grown since then.
As our wetlands disappear, it will be very expensive for our cities and towns to replicate their services. As taxpayers, this is concerning. Hoosiers pay millions to maintain stormwater systems that already are stressed by intense rainfall and lack of investment. Destruction of wetlands cost millions in damage from increased flooding, erosion and increases to our spending on drinking water purification.
Value they bring
While wetlands cover just about 4% of our state, they are home to thousands of species, including a third of Indiana’s endangered species. And while proposals are being made to spend billions of dollars to pump carbon dioxide deep underground in Indiana, our wetlands sequester carbon for free and have a remarkable capacity to do so. Depending on their type and location, they can store 81 to 216 metric tons of carbon per acre.
Hoosiers agree that our wetlands are valuable. A 2022 released Indiana Audubon Society poll found that 95% of Hoosiers believe we should either strengthen or maintain current protections for wetlands. This stands in stark contrast to the recently released White River Report Card on which Central Indiana received an F grade on protecting and valuing its wetlands. And in recent years, Hoosier Environmental Council has worked in a statewide coalition to push back on multiple efforts in the Indiana General Assembly to reduce wetland protections. While this is troubling, it has been made worse by a recent Supreme Court decision that removed federal protections from the majority of Indiana’s remaining wetlands.
Faced with scarcity through destruction, the value of our wetlands and natural infrastructure is increasing. Not only do they provide valuable services and protection, they contribute to our overall quality of life. Join the Hoosier Environmental Council in asking our General Assembly to act now to save Indiana’s remaining wetlands.
Sam Carpenter was named the new executive director of the Hoosier Environmental Council in the fall of 2022.
