Scientific Excursions into Delineating Bottomland Hardwood Wetlands in the Lower Mississippi Valley

Over the past two decades, there has been a growing awareness of the intrinsic value of, and unique functions permormed by, wetlands in general and bottomland hardwood forests in particular. At the same time, however, tens of millions of hectares (ha) of wetlands were being destroyed. These enormous losses provided the necessary stimulus to identify critical wetland areas, document important ecosystem processes and functions, and forumate protection mechanisms. Certainly, few areas are more critical than the bottomland hardwood forests and few protection mechanisms are more confusing and controversial than §404 of the Clean Water Act, which regulates the discharge of dredged and fill materials into waters of the United States, including wetlands. One particularly controversial issue, even within the federal government itself, has been identifying that portion of the bottomland hardwood forest that is a wetland within the meaning of §404.