This week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a report detailing the loss of wetlands over the last ten years in the Prairie Pothole region which includes the Dakotas.  According to the report between 1997 and 2009, 74,000 wetland acres were lost, which is an average net loss of 6200 acres a year.  South Dakota Association of Conservation Districts President Frances Fritz of Iroquois says that’s alarming and an indication that farming everything to feed a growing populations isn’t the right answer.

Fritz says wetlands create several benefits for agriculture, the environment and for wildlife.

Fritz says it’s critical farmers be encouraged to keep implementing  conservation practices including preserving wetlands.

The Prairie Pothole region includes both South and North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota and Montana.