If you were to ask anyone to list ten things that had a major impact on US history and its development, I can guarantee you that not a soul would mention salt marshes. And yet, this environmental resource played a crucial role in how Americans adapted to their new land. They quickly discovered a plethora of ways in which it, along with the surrounding areas, could be usurped. However, the increasing reliance on salt marshes soon bordered on exploitation, as little heed seemed to be given to signs of apparent deterioration. Unfortunately, the way in which salt marshes have been treated is an inevitable consequence of the ultimate reality of societal, agricultural, and urban development, in which there is a tradeoff between improving the human condition and maintaining the condition of our natural resources.

The way in which people interacted with and consequently impacted salt marshes depended on the time period. For example, colonists had an agricultural lifestyle and took advantage of the easily arable land. With few rocks and much fertile soil, it was the prime location for developing farmland. In addition to planting crops, they also used the area as pasturelands for their livestock. The products of animals in this area appeared to be superior, but at a cost to the current animal population: the grazing caused a decrease in some types that lived there. Furthermore, the presence of carbon dioxide and other chemicals increased, thereby causing a disturbance to the chemical balance of the atmosphere. The improvement of one natural resource, farming land, thus came at an expense to another natural resource, the salt marsh.

The focus of American development over the years has shifted from an agrarian lifestyle to an urban one. The clear turning point occurred during the Industrial Revolution. At that time, salt marshes were abused in many new ways: they were tidally restricted by dams, polluted by runoff and sewage, and ditched for mosquito control. The intent was to increase productivity, but at times it was counterproductive. Drying up marshes, for example, actually increased the amount of mosquitos present because killifish, which keep the population of the pesky insects in check, consequently died off. The more US society urbanized, the more salt marshes were impacted, until Congress began making concerted efforts to preserve and protect them. Some of the consequences, such as changes in temperature, eutrophication, and salt production, were easily noticeable. However, salt marshes, renowned for their resilience, only began to display various other signs of being impacted after many years of mistreatment.

While humans clearly contributed to the negative changes in salt marshes, they did not intend to do so out of malice. In their attempts to adapt to the land and make life better, they had to make decisions as to what was a priority: preserving a salt marsh or utilizing it so that they could survive. Indeed, there is a finite amount of resources in the word. Anything that humans do entails usurping some of what is available, and doing so at a cost. Every choice we have has some sort of impact, even if it is unbeknownst to us at the current moment. For example, society depends on using cell phones, but we do not know what the long-term effects of the usage will be on our bodies or our environment. Cellphones are now considered a convenience that contributes to the development of the modern world. Similarly, taking advantage of the salt marshes was the way in which past societies attempted to develop, too.

Of course, with hindsight being 20-20, we can see the many flaws in how previous generations behaved. It is rather tempting to play the blame game and to theorize what their motives were as well as how they should have behaved. Yet only now can we truly see the harmful effects in their totality, with the mistreatment having accumulated over the years.  Our way of life significantly improved, it is our ethical responsibility to use and explore alternative methods that are more environmentally friendly. The fact that people today do not know the crucial role  salt marshes play in our ecosystem is extremely depressing.  We must act now by preserving and protecting them, before they are literally both out of sight and out of mind.