VALUE OF WETLANDS,1: Wetlands can save lives ... we'll 
explain how ... ahead ... on Passport to Texas

This is PTT sponsored by the WSFR Program

With a couple of months of hurricane season 2012 
remaining, it's important to remember lessons from the 
past. We learned seven years ago from Katrina that 
abundant, healthy wetlands may have helped to moderate 
the storm surge that devastated the city.

12 -I think there's a greater appreciation now than ever before of 
the values that wetlands provide. At least from the standpoint of 
improving water quality and storm abatement and attenuation of 
flood flows. 

Nathan Kuhn is a wetland ecologist at Texas Parks and 
Wildlife. He explains how wetlands buffer coastlines from 
the overwhelming impact of storms. 

36 - They basically block the winds and tides and everything else 
when these hurricanes come in. They're essentially a buffer. It 
slowly reduces storm surges as you go farther inland, and it also 
reduces - just in general - the power of a hurricane. You know 
how hurricanes always lose power as they're going over Florida? 
It's because they've made landfall. Warm water is the driver for 
hurricanes; and once they hit the land then they lose power. 
That's why they lose strength, it's because they're no longer 
getting fuel anymore. That's the value of wetlands. If you have 
them way out in the gulf of Mexico from where your house is, 
then by the time it hits your house it'll already have lost a lot of 
steam.

And that can mean the difference between minor structural 
damage and losing everything. 

That's our show for today ... made possible by the WSFR 
Sport program ... providing funding for wetland 
conservation through the Private Lands Enhancement 
Program. 

For Texas Parks and Wildlife ... I'm Cecilia Nasti. 




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