Delineating Bordering Vegetated Wetlands Under the Massachusetts Wetlands211 Protection Act. A Handbook

摘要

Conservation commissioners in Massachusetts have a unique knowledge of the local211u001elandscape and the important functions that wetlands provide in their community, 211u001esuch as flood control and wildlife habitat. As a result, commissioners play an 211u001eimportant role in protecting these wetland resource areas because their knowledge 211u001eis incorporated into the permitting process at the local level. In fact, the 211u001emajority of permitting requirements under the Wetlands Protection Act ('The Act,' 211u001eMassachusetts General Laws, Chapter 131, Section 40) are administered by 211u001econservation commissions. For this reason, the Department of Environmental 211u001eProtection (DEP) and its Division of Wetlands and Waterways (DWW) are committed 211u001eto providing commissions with the training and tools necessary to implement the 211u001eAct. The first and often the most important step in protecting wetlands is 211u001eidentifying their location in the field. Freshwater wetlands bordering on creeks, 211u001erivers, streams, ponds, or lakes are protected by the Act. Four wetland types are 211u001eidentified in the Act: bogs, swamps, marshes, and wet meadows. Generally, these 211u001eare areas where groundwater is at or near the surface, or where surface water 211u001efrequently collects for a significant part of the growing season, and where a 211u001esignificant part of the vegetative community is made up of plants adapted to life 211u001ein saturated soil. The ground and surface water conditions and plant communities 211u001ewhich occur in each of these wetland types are specified in the Act. Hydrology 211u001e(water) and vegetation (plants) are the two characteristics that define 211u001efreshwater wetlands protected by the Act.