WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Losses of America's wetlands are slowing with conservation gains but further investment in habitat protection is needed, a government report says.
"Wetlands are at a tipping point," said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar in announcing the report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "While we have made great strides in conserving and restoring wetlands since the 1950s when we were losing an area equal to half the size of Rhode Island each year, we remain on a downward trend that is alarming."
The report documents substantial losses in forested wetlands and coastal wetlands that serve as storm buffers, absorb pollution and provide vital habitat for fish, wildlife and plants, an Interior Department release said Wednesday.
The net wetland loss was estimated to be 62,300 acres between 2004 and 2009, bringing the nation's total wetlands area a little more than 110 million acres.
There was cause for hope in the report, officials said.
"This report offers us a road map for stemming and reversing the decline," Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe said. "It documents a number of successes in wetlands conservation, protection and reestablishment, and will be used to help channel our resources to protect wetlands where they are most threatened and reduce further wetland losses."
