Coast & Wetlands
The beautiful and biologically rich southern coastline attracts millions of visitors each year, from tourists and anglers to rare migratory birds and is home to some of the most productive estuaries in America. Further inland, a wide variety of wetlands and marshes, such as East Dismal Swamp, Alligator River pocosins and the mysterious Carolina bays, support some of the country's most unique plants and wildlife and provide untold environmental benefits for local communities, including flood control and clean drinking water. In fact, almost one quarter of all wetlands remaining in the lower 48 states are in SELC's six-state regon; North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia alone contain nearly 20% of all wetland acres in the U.S.
©Lynda Richardson
However, industrial, commercial and residential development now threatens these valuable ecosystems, and we are running the risk of losing them forever. There is no single government or agency responsible for protecting the South's coast and wetlands. Instead, regulatory oversight is divided among dozens of local, state and federal agencies that, combined, make hundreds of decisions each year that affect the health and future of these critical natural resources.
The Southern Environmental Law Center is filling in the gap. Our unique regional approach enables SELC to leverage our strategic legal work into broad, state and region-wide conservation successes. Teaming up with dozens of coastal groups, we work to improve and enforce the many laws and regulations that pertain to wetlands, coastal water quality, and aquatic and marine habitat.
From the fragile marsh hammocks of the Georgia coast, to the small but critical inland wetlands of South Carolina, to the last remaining native longleaf pine forests, the South is home to treasured and vital ecological communities. SELC is working to keep it that way.
