Activists allege ongoing attempts to revitalize wetlands in Virginia and North Carolina will not restore the sites to their original value.
Chesapeake Bay Foundation Executive Director Ann Jennings said while a number of private companies are developing the former wetland territories near the Grand Dismal Swamp and Northwest River, their efforts will not be entirely successful, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Sunday.
"When a wetland is lost in a community and replaced at a significant distance away, perhaps in another locality, the values provided by that wetland are permanently lost to that community," the Virginia foundation official said.
The recreation of the wetlands is part of an effort mandated under federal law in which a private company is required to create or restore wetland properties for each wetland property is destroys elsewhere.
Such regulations have been opposed by environmentalists, who not only oppose the destruction of the natural wetlands but support Jennings's stance that the new properties are less valuable to the environment.
Supporters say recreating wetlands is a way to preserve properties such as swamps and bogs that can help filter out pollutants and also control flooding in the vicinity, the Virginian-Pilot reported.
