Keeping Watch on the Floodplain

Grass-roots wetlands protection groups are spreading throughout the country at a great pace, reflecting both a growing awareness of the importance of wetlands resources and a growing citizen frustration with the ability of federal and state regulations to adequately protect wetland and floodplain ecosystems. One of the oldest community wetlands protection groups in the country, the Passaic River Coalition has trained citizens in New Jersey to recognize environmental violations in their own communities. For 21 years, this group has been working to ensure that understaffed state and federal agencies are aware of unauthorized and unpermitted development activities in local wetlands and floodplains, and to pressure those agencies into following through on the prosecution of illegal activities.