Thanks to years of hard work by Vermonters with widely diverse interests, a new wetlands law is now in place that improves the regulation of these valuable natural resources across the Green Mountain State.

Credit goes to the Legislature for passing this important law, and in particular Rep. David Deen, D-Putney, for his leadership on the issue.

Wetlands – as swampy and murky and mucky as they may be – are crucial, natural features of our landscape. They are nature's water filters, purifying Vermonters' drinking water and combing out pollutants that would otherwise find their way into our lakes and streams. Wetlands soak up rainwater and snow melt, moderating the scale of floods. And wetlands provide habitat for birds (including game birds like ducks and geese), fish, and, yes, insects. To use the jargon, wetlands provide a range of "functions and values" that are essential to human beings as well as a host of other species.

For hundreds of years, people filled and dredged and drained wetlands without understanding the impact. It's estimated that since Europeans first arrived in Vermont, the state has lost between a third and a half its original wetlands. Today, the state regulates wetlands, working hard to protect those that remain, and this just-passed bill improves that regulation.

At the core of the bill (H.447) is a mechanism to make it easier for the Agency of Natural Resources to add or remove wetlands from the state wetlands maps – maps which are the underpinning of wetland protection. Currently, up to one-third of important wetlands are not shown on those maps and up to 7 percent of the areas mapped as wetlands are not, in fact, significant wetlands. Consequently, people relying on the maps may have been making decisions based on incomplete information.

Making it easier to get wetlands on the maps will serve all Vermonters better, in part by providing prospective purchasers of land, or developers, better information about any wetlands on land they hope to buy or develop.

The change will not only provide more clarity for property owners, but it will also have the effect of protecting wetlands that otherwise might have been filled or drained because they were not on the statewide maps. Over time, as more and more wetlands are added to the maps, more and more will be protected. This is a good thing from a conservation perspective.

The bill was the product of long negotiations among groups that have a wide range of interests. The groups that hammered out this approach include the Vermont Realtors Association, the Vermont Forest Products Association, the state Agency of Natural Resources, Vermont's electric utilities, and the Vermont Natural Resources Council. Given how politically charged wetlands policy can be this measure represents a true success story.

So what does this mean on the ground?

For conservation-minded Vermonters, including local conservation commissions, it means citizens may request that the state ensure that wetlands in their communities are fully protected, something that until now would have been difficult because of bureaucratic red-tape.

Specifically, under the new law, a property owner or a citizen can petition the Agency of Natural Resources to put wetlands on the official maps, and ANR is obligated to take steps to add those wetlands to the maps, as long as the wetlands have important functions and values.

As part of the agreement among the stakeholders, the state will also begin to protect vernal pools, those areas of standing water – mini, seasonal, "pond-lets" often in the forest – that provide habitat for young amphibians like salamanders, beyond the reach of hungry fish.

As a result of this new law, property owners will have more clarity and predictability and there will be, over time, greater protection for these wondrous and essential bits of Vermont.

Jake Brown is the communications director at the Vermont Natural Resources Council. He lives in Montpelier.