Francy That: 'Worthless' land provides wide range of benefits

When I was young, we called them swamps, those low areas on the farms where grass for pasture or hay crops failed to grow. They were often wet and farmers said the soil was “sour” and the land worthless. However, in 1970 we learned the true value of these natural entities with the passing of the Environmental Protection Act and the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

According to the Carlton County Planning and Zoning guide, Carlton County has retained “over 94 percent of its pre-settlement wetlands and supports their protection.” The eight types of wetlands listed fulfill multiple roles in our ecosystems. They provide habitat for many species of wildlife, absorb excess rain or snow melt to prevent flooding, filter run-off moisture before it reaches groundwater reservoirs and many other important functions. Quite a list of benefits for land that was once considered “worthless.”

“Up here we are very lucky, and I feel we have good quality wetlands,” said Alyssa Bloss, a certified conservation specialist for the Carlton Soil and Water Conservation District.

Even though the EPA was created to protect the environment, including wetlands, they were still threatened in many areas due to agriculture and building development. Bloss said that much of her work is based on the Minnesota Wetland Conservation Act (WCA) of 1991 that gave local governments more control over wetland protection.

“In this county the regulator is the county (Planning and Zoning Department), and then on that team is the water conservation district and the board of soil and water resources wetland specialist,” Bloss said. “We meet monthly to go over wetland violations or permits.”

“Sometimes people want to make them larger or deeper for fish or waterfowl, but that’s not good because you’re altering something that’s functioning as it should,” she added.

On the other hand, Bloss also works with people who want to enhance their wetlands or shorelines to improve habitat by implementing guidelines from WCA.

Rather than being concerned about development threatening our wetlands, Bloss said the emerald ash borer is killing the native black ash trees vital to the wetland ecosystems.

“We have the largest amount of black ash in North America in our region and the emerald ash borer is killing it. We’re trying to mitigate that by doing education outreach, encouraging the planting of white oak or silver maples or red,” Bloss said. “That (loss of black ash) will affect our wetlands bigtime.”

When we bought our property south of Carlton, the Planning and Zoning office informed us that there is a 1-acre wetland on the property and provided us with materials regarding the protections in place for that area. My husband believes our property should be assessed lower to reflect having land that is not usable for anything else. I considered us fortunate not to be assessed double for having a giant water filter, flood control system and habitat for wild creatures.

When we observe the many bogs, swamps, streams and marshes and even meadows that constitute the wetlands in Carlton County, we can be thankful that we have such amazing water resources.

“Big picture, everything is related,” Bloss said. “Everything works together; everything relies on some other system to function. So, I mean, our wetlands are connected with our forests and our systems. Wetlands play such a huge role above ground and below ground. That water is always moving around all over the place. It’s a whole other system underground too.”

Writer Francy Chammings is a retired English teacher and clinical psychologist who loves living in Carlton County and enjoys learning about the world around her.