GLOUCESTER POINT, Va. (AP) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a report on the health of coastal wetlands in the nation, with the five-year effort revealing that wetlands in the coastal plains region, which includes Virginia, are slightly healthier than the nation overall.
The Daily Press reports that the EPA's survey shows that 50 percent of all wetland types in the region were in good health, 21 percent were in fair condition and 29 percent were in poor condition.
Carl Hershner, the director of the Center for Coastal Resources Management at Virginia Institute of Marine Science, says the state doesn't have a lot of pristine, undeveloped areas in the coastal plains, so he's surprised at the conclusion.
The survey was compiled by researchers and graduate students from VIMS, the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia Tech and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
