The question as to whether or not salt marshes should be restored to their original states is a tricky. While on the surface it may seem ideal to use our powers of technology for good and to bring back what once was, I believe that there are serious flaws in the rationale.

I believe that removing non-indigenous species that have started to grow naturally and replacing them with indigenous species that no longer grow naturally is futile when regarding the fundamentals of the issues. Salt marshes became invaded and destroyed by human intervention. Therefore, human intervention caused the problems in the first place, and although the intentions this time are for constructive purposes, this isn’t to say that results can be certain.

The best thing that people can do now is to once again let nature takes it’s course. The ecosystems that exist in salt marshes are comprised of an incredibly network of saline levels, food chains, and other ecofactors. While experts may be on the project, human logic and experimentation is very fallible. By trying to artificially recreate an ecosystem, humans are likely to aggravate the situation. On the other hand, by letting the new, non-indigenous species thrive naturally, the marshes will rebuild themselves. They will not be the same environments that were once there, but they will be natural nonetheless.

Think of this metaphor. The United States is made up almost entirely of immigrants and decedents of immigrants who came to this country over the past 300 years. Very few Americans are actually “indigenous”. No one will argue that we should try to replace the non-indigenous Americans with Native Americans. It has been generally accepted that there is a new meaning to what it means to be “American”. The same logic should be applied to salt marshes.