October 22, 2020

Stephen Cook
1677 Pacheco Way
San Luis Obispo, Ca 93410

Mr. Jared Blumenfeld

Secretary for Environmental Protection
California Environmental Protection Agency
P.O. Box 2815
Sacramento, CA 95812-2815

Dear Mr. Jared Blumenfeld,

I am writing to you as a college student at California Polytechnic State University who is

concerned about the health of our environment in California. I am in a biology course at my
university where I am learning about conservation and how essential ecosystems are to our
planet and to humanity. I am writing to you to convince you of the importance of the
conservation of our Californian wetlands and what needs to happen to preserve the biodiversity
in our state. I believe that our state needs more action for the protection of the wetlands.

Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, comparable to the output of
the fullest rainforests and most vibrant of coral reefs. However, this environment is slowly being
destroyed in California in favor of agricultural land. According to Barbara J. Kent and Joy
Nystrom Mast and their paper on the change of wetlands around San Dieguito Lagoon,
California has lost over 75% of their wetlands, and action done to help preserve them is not
enough to sustain the losses. The central valley for example was once an extensive network of
wetlands. According to My Water Quality, of the once expansive 7 million acres of vernal pools,
only 13% remain. The destruction of these wetlands in the name of agriculture has done well at
providing the country with food, as 1% of farmland in California produces 25% of our nation’s
table food, but it has done a terrible job at protecting our biodiversity. The United States
Environmental Protection Agency states that “more than one-third of the threatened and
endangered species in the U.S. live exclusively in wetlands and nearly half use wetlands at some
point in their life cycle.” Many species, such as wood ducks, muskrats, cattails, and swamp
roses, live only in wetlands. The destruction of that environment could mean the extinction of
hundreds of our beloved Californian creatures.

The wetlands provide much more to us than biodiversity, however. Wetland recovery and
protection will not only help the many creatures that call this environment home, but also the
humans that live there. According to the United States EPA, wetlands also help “control erosion,
limit flooding, moderate groundwater levels and base flow, assimilate nutrients, protect drinking
water sources, and buffer coastal areas from storm surges.” These benefits can total billions,
possibly trillions, of dollars of free productivity for California just from the protection of these
lands.

There are many solutions to help protect the wetlands. The United States EPA has laid out a
great groundwork for how to start. We need to partner with landholders and purchase land from
those landholders who own property on those historical wetlands so that the government may
enact protections for the land. Over 75% of wetlands in the United States are privately owned.
California needs to help bring this statistic down. Because private landowners will not always
take action in helping restore those habitats, we must either create partnerships with those private
landowners so that we can repair the ecosystems, or we must purchase the land ourselves. Once
this is accomplished and more protections are put in place, restoration can occur. The
re-establishment and Rehabilitation of our wetlands after giving more protections is extremely
important.

I greatly urge you to take another look at the importance of our wetlands. The long list of
benefits that they provide I believe is worth all the time and energy that needs to be put into it.
Our Californian environment is extremely unique and it is imperative that we do all that we can
to protect it, and the wetlands are a crucial and important first step to look at. If you or your staff
have any more questions on the importance of wetlands or what scientists believe must be done
to preserve them, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Stephen Cook