The Lake Champlain Basin has more than 300,000 acres of wetlands which are a vital part of the Basin's ecosystem. Protecting wetlands, streams, and riparian habitats is important to the health of the Lake Champlain Basin. Why protect wetlands? Look what they do...

• provide critical habitat and food for fish and wildlife
• filter sediments, pollutants and nutrients for clean water
• control flooding
• protect groundwater
• protect drinking water
• stabilize shorelines
• prevent erosion
• provide recreation, such as birding and hunting
• help people of all ages learn about nature

Lake Champlain is part of the Atlantic Flyway, a migratory corridor for waterfowl and other wetland birds. Between 20,000 and 40,000 ducks and geese that depend on the Lake for critical resting and feeding sites have been counted during October flights.

Despite federal, state and local wetlands protection regulations, threats to wetlands in the Lake Champlain Basin persist. Wetlands are often drained or filled for agricultural, residential or commercial purposes. The acquisition, and restoration and mapping programs currently underway in the Basin are an important non-regulatory approach to wetlands protection and conservation.

• Wetland Acquisition Strategy
• Wetland Restoration
• Wetland Mapping
• Wetland Fact Sheet
• Wetlands in the Basin Article & Map (LC Basin Atlas)

This program works with willing landowners to permanently protect important wetlands. The LCBP supported the initial study to prioritize wetlands for acquisition, completed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 1994, which resulted in over $1.4 million in awards under the federal North American Wetlands Conservation Act. So far, nearly 8,000 acres of wetlands and surrounding areas have been acquired for protection under the program.

The Vermont Chapter of the Nature Conservancy is coordinating the project. Partners include the Adirondack and Eastern New York Chapters of the Nature Conservancy, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

• Wetland Protection Article & Map (LC Basin Atlas)

Since colonial settlement, an estimated 50% of the Basin's wetlands have been lost to development and draining. Restoring wetlands, streams and riparian areas is a way to regain these losses. Since 1991, more than 1,300 acres of wetlands, which had been drained for agricultural or other land uses, have been restored by the US Fish and Wildife Service's Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program. This program had also restored 515 acres of land-based habitat and 72.3 river miles in the Basin as of 2001. This program is a partnership among the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Other programs include the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program and the Wetlands Reserve Program. In Vermont, the Wetlands Protection and Restoration Program helps protect the water quality of Lake Champlain through the restoration and protection of wetlands, in cooperation with landowners. Since 2002, Quebec has protected more than 1,693 acres of wetlands near Missisquoi Bay as part of the Pike River Ecological Reserve with the aid of the Nature Conservancy and other local organizations at a cost of about $1.2 million (CAD $).

The National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) maps for many areas of the Lake Champlain Basin are almost 20 years out of date. However, some recent progress has been made on wetlands mapping in New York. The LCBP has funded map updates of maps to NWI standards for wetlands outside of the Adirondack Park and completing digitized maps within the Park remains a high priority. In Vermont, map updates need to be implemented using up-to-date remote sensing imagery and related technologies, assisted by field verification.

• Wetlands in the Basin Article & Map (LC Basin Atlas)