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Since 1986, it has been estimated that every year, 58,500 acres of wetlands in the lower United States are lost due to logging, release of toxic chemicals, mining and other anthropogenic factors. Comparatively, in the 1600s, 220 million acres of wetlands existed. Now there are a paltry 90,000 acres left.

But who cares that the total acreage of wetlands are quickly decreasing? To be honest, I really didn’t. I mean seriously, wetlands look swampy, muddy and kind of ugly: Not where I’d want to spend an afternoon. Just take a look at the picture below of the Baker Wetlands. Everything looks kind of dead and muddy and gross.

I like money, though. In fact, I consider the economy one of the most important issues that determines the well-being and influence of our nation. A poor capitalist economy means a poor democratic government. If you would have told me the repulsive, murky swamps (aka: Wetlands) were intrinsically linked to our economy last week I probably would have told you to get a life. Well, it’s true.

In coastal wetlands, farmers raise and harvest shellfish. In the mid 1990s, wetlands-based shellfish catches contributed $15 billion to our gross domestic product. I don’t care how you look at it; $15 billion is a lot of money that strengthens our economy. That’s not even including all of the jobs the industry produces each year. Unfortunately, with the disappearance of the wetlands in our country, domestic shellfish prices, especially shrimp, drastically increased (smaller wetlands mean not as many shellfish can exist and be harvested).

Enter Thailand: The panacea to our need for cheap shellfish. The nation offered us inexpensive shellfish; hence, imports increased exponentially. Shellfish prices went down again and everyone and everything was happy - except for our faltering economy. Bye bye, American shellfish industry. Hello imports (and increases in carbon emissions that result from transporting shellfish around the world).

Who knew the elimination of wetlands in our nation could so detrimentally affect our economy? Sure, there are other factors that contributed to the increase in domestic shellfish prices, like Hurricane Katrina among other external factors. However, the elimination of our precious wetlands certainly played a devastating part on the shellfish industry.

But the preservation of our nation’s wetlands doesn’t just help our economy. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, wetlands also function as flood control agents (and decrease damage to surrounding cities and towns) and help refill aquifers, ensuring we have plentiful, clean drinking water.

The facts are simple: We have to ensure our precious wetlands don’t further disappear. Quite literally, our economy is positively impacted by larger wetlands. Alright, so wetlands might not be the most aesthetically pleasing facet of nature, but we must protect them. To do any less would be simply irresponsible.

J.J. De Simone