May is the American Wetlands Month, which provides us a vital opportunity to consider the importance of these ecosystems, their portrayal in popular culture and media, their current status, and how you can get involved in their conservation, all of which are essential to protecting Nebraskan landscapes. 

Throughout the month, we will highlight different aspects of wetlands and their conservation. This article will focus on definitions, stories, and connections.

Wetlands in Nebraska and beyond

Wetlands are important ecosystems - areas that differ in dominant life forms, water sources, and temperature - that can be found all around the world. They provide food and habitat for humans and animals, filter out contaminants from water, control flooding, recharge groundwater, increase biodiversity, and provide a space for people to connect with nature through recreational activities. 

Wetlands are also unique places where water influences the type of plants, animals, and soil microbes that use these areas. All wetland types share three characteristics that help people identify them - their hydrology (water movement and levels), hydric soils (soils that experience prolonged water saturation), and hydric plants (plants adapted to life in water). 

In Nebraska, some of the main wetland types are playa wetlands, Sandhills wetlands, saline and alkaline wetlands, riverine wetlands, and urban wetlands. 

Resources to connect to Nebraska’s wetlands

• A webpage with a list of publicly accessible land designated for conserving and restoring fish, plant and wildlife habitat in Nebraska, “Wildlife Management Areas”
• A webpage full of wetlands information made in partnership between Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Platte Basin Timelapse, “Wetlands of Nebraska”
• A recent article on an experience at a saline wetland, “Reintroduction of Salt Creek Tiger Beetle Larvae”

Murky waters: Definition of “Waters of the United States” and implications to wetland regulation

Wetlands are complex, biological systems. They often lack clear boundaries and can vary significantly in water level, vegetation, and soil type. The water levels and vegetation can change drastically from season to season for a single wetland, and each wetland type can further vary in hydrology.  

Current federal wetland protection is based on a wetland’s surface water connectivity to Waters of the United States (WOTUS), which are navigable rivers, lakes, and territorial seas; traditional navigable waters (TNWs). The definition of WOTUS and its interpretation has been addressed by four Supreme Court decisions to understand what waters qualify for federal protection and what activities related to these waters should be regulated (Environmental Protection Agency, 2025).

This judicial interpretation that wetlands should be regulated based on surface connectivity to WOTUS will likely decrease the number of wetlands and streams that are jurisdictional under the federal Clean Water Act (Sullivan et al., 2019; Gold, 2024). Wetlands operate as an integrated system within the landscapes where they reside and have complex interconnected relationships with surrounding aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. 

Aligning scientific knowledge with jurisdictional determinations of wetlands is important and will require coordinated efforts among scientists, lawmakers, and resource managers. Wetland professionals can offer their experience and knowledge gained while working with wetlands to inform and guide this regulatory framework. 

From feeling “bogged down” to a “slough” of positive emotions: Wetland portrayal in popular culture and media

Since we, as humans, use stories to navigate the world by explaining, exploring, resolving, and imagining, the narratives around us can influence our feelings and attitudes toward unfamiliar landscapes (Hughes & Moscardo, 2023). 

When identifying the most common themes of wetland portrayal in 15 American novels, the most common themes were danger, discord, location, decay, life cycling, and production for survival (Kiviat, 2021). By using fiction as a lens into the social environment, these identified themes highlight ways wetlands can be seen positively and negatively in mainstream society (Cavalcanti, 2024).

Similarly, 163 modern movies portraying wetlands on their film tags were analyzed to identify common themes of wetland portrayal (Zinnen, et al. 2024). The portrayal of wetlands in the studied films leaned negatively, with the most common themes being death, negative supernatural or magical occurrences, justice/revenge, rebirth/coming-of-age/heroic self-actualization, ostracism/outcasts, and refuge from hostility/separate society. 

Within the socio-political realm, wetlands are often associated with corruption, greed, and waste. The metaphor “Drain the Swamp” carries a negative connotation for wetlands, linking wetland drainage to the favorable outcome of ending or eliminating wasteful government practices (“What…,” 2026). The idea of draining wetlands to “reclaim” the land for productive human use is exemplified in the Swamp Land Acts of 1849, 1850, and 1860 (Carlson, 2010). This federal legislation transferred federal land to states that agreed to drain wetlands deemed unfit for civilization and human progress.

Although the most common themes generally had negative connotations in novels, films, and the socio-political realm, other themes highlighted wetlands as areas of high biodiversity (“life cycling”) with plants and animals that could be harvested for food and fiber (“products for survival”). Similarly, “rebirth/coming-of-age/heroic self-actualization” can align with a wetland’s ability to go through cycles of dormancy and depletion to productivity and abundance, and “refuge from hostility/separate society” can align with a wetland’s unique features on the landscape as a place that is not easily converted into land for human activities and, thus, a refuge for those needing shelter. 

Personal experiences and connection: Offering refuge from negative portrayals

Through your own experiences with wetlands - whether that be in the form of hunting, birdwatching, wildlife watching, photography, kayaking, trapping, hiking, writing, painting, or just enjoying nature - you can nurture your connection to them and inspire others to do the same by inviting them along with you to experience wetlands or sharing your story to reinforce the positive impact the wetland had on you. 

Connection to nature is an important factor driving more wetland-friendly decision-making and behaviors, as you begin to see yourself not just as a passive observer of wetlands but as an active, engaged participant (Lokhorst et al., 2014; Whitburn et al., 2019). With increasing land use and climate pressures on wetlands, there is a growing need for people such as yourself to become active participants in monitoring and studying the health of wetlands (McInnes et al., 2020). Community scientists are critically needed participants and collaborators in scientific research to increase scientific knowledge on wetlands. 

Moreover, physical connection during outdoor activities promotes a psychological connection with nature, and both lead to better physical and mental health (Barragan-Jason et al., 2023). Wetlands provide a degree of stress resilience that urban landscapes alone cannot provide (Li & Lange, 2023). Visiting a wetland can reduce feelings of isolation, stress, and anxiety, while enhancing positive emotions (Maund et al., 2019; Pedersen et al. 2019). 

A mindfulness activity

Activity for those remembering a wetland experience or exploring the "Wetlands of Nebraska" webpage

This activity is meant to help you reflect deeply on your experience - from your feelings and emotions to your observations. 

• Think about the last time you experienced a wetland near you or explored a wetland type in Nebraska using online resources. Try to remember how you felt; what you saw, read, and heard; and who was with you on your adventure, where applicable. 
• Create an artwork (poem, story, painting, sketch, or other medium) on your experience. 
• Share your artwork with others!

Activity for those visiting a wetland

This activity is a prompt for nature journaling. If this prompt does not suit you, I encourage you to look up “nature journaling prompts” or “nature journaling ideas” online. 

• Bring a notebook and writing utensil (pen, pencil, crayons, colored pencils, etc.)

• Find somewhere to sit. 

• Open your notebook and draw an “x” on the middle of the page.

• Then, listen for sources of sound and draw them, indicating their positions relative to you (“x”). 

• Label the sources if you know their name. Otherwise, label its potential source with a question mark. 

  • After you are done creating a visualization of the sound, go home and see if you can research what made it. 

If you would like to share your artwork, observations, or experience with a wetland, please reach out to apoetzl2@unl.edu. Otherwise, wishing you happy wetland memories and adventures!

References

Barragan-Jason, G., Loreau, M., de Mazancourt, C., Singer, M. C., & Parmesan, C. (2023). Psychological and physical connections with nature improve both human well-being and nature conservation: A systematic review of Meta-analyses. Biological Conservation, 277, 109842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109842 

Carlson, A. E. (2010). “Drain the swamps for health and home”: Wetlands drainage, land conservation, and National Water Policy, 1850-1917 (dissertation). University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK. 

Cavalcanti, S. (2024). “The marsh did not confine them but defined them”: an ecocritical analysis of waterscapes in contemporary anglophone environmental narratives. English Studies, 105(8), 1254–1268. https://doi.org/10.1080/0013838x.2024.2443712 

Environmental Protection Agency. (2025, November 17). About Waters of the United States. EPA. https://www.epa.gov/wotus/about-waters-united-states 

Gold, A. C. (2024). How wet must a wetland be to have federal protections in post-Sackett US? Science, 385(6716), 1450–1453. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp3222 

Hughes, K., & Moscardo, G. (2023). Once upon a time: The impact of storytelling on connecting people to natural landscapes. Environmental Education Research, 30(2), 235–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2023.2246695 

Kiviat, E. (2021). Wetland imagery in American novels. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 4(1), 100158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2021.100158 

Li, L., & Lange, K. W. (2023). Assessing the relationship between urban blue-green infrastructure and stress resilience in real settings: A systematic review. Sustainability, 15(12), 9240. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129240 

Lokhorst, A. M., Hoon, C., le Rutte, R., & de Snoo, G. (2014). There is an I in nature: The crucial role of the self in nature conservation. Land Use Policy, 39, 121–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2014.03.005 

Maund, P. R., Irvine, K. N., Reeves, J., Strong, E., Cromie, R., Dallimer, M., & Davies, Z. G. (2019). Wetlands for wellbeing: Piloting a nature-based health intervention for the management of anxiety and depression. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(22), 4413. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16224413 

McInnes, R. J., Davidson, N. C., Rostron, C. P., Simpson, M., & Finlayson, C. M. (2020). A citizen science state of the world’s wetlands survey. Wetlands, 40(5), 1577–1593. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-020-01267-8 

Pedersen, E., Weisner, S. E. B., & Johansson, M. (2019). Wetland areas’ direct contributions to residents’ well-being entitle them to high cultural ecosystem values. Science of The Total Environment, 646, 1315–1326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.236

Sullivan, S. M., Rains, M. C., & Rodewald, A. D. (2019). The proposed change to the definition of “Waters of the united states” flouts sound science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(24), 11558–11561. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1907489116 

Wade, J., Kelleher, C., Ward, A. S., & Schewe, R. L. (2022). The fluid definition of the ‘Waters of the United States’: Non‐uniform effects of regulation on wetland protections. Hydrological Processes, 36(11). https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14747 

Whitburn, J., Linklater, W., & Abrahamse, W. (2019). Meta‐analysis of human connection to nature and proenvironmental behavior. Conservation Biology, 34(1), 180–193. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13381 

What does “The swamp” in politics actually mean? LegalClarity. (2026, April 15). https://legalclarity.org/what-is-the-meaning-of-the-swamp-in-politics/ 

Zinnen, J., Charles, B., Wilhelm, C., & Matthews, J. W. (2024). Wetland portrayal in modern films. Wetlands, 44(7). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-024-01840-5