"Fewer Marshes + More Man-Made Ponds = Increased Wetlands"

The above headline from the New York Times sums this story up neatly--

Last week, the Bush administration proudly announced that there has been a net increase in wetlands since 1998. Sounds good, right? Well, there's more:

...the net gain noted in the report was fueled by an increase in pond acreage, which includes things like ornamental ponds in new developments and mine reclamation ponds.

For instance, the mining of sand and clay for the construction of two major highways in South Carolina, Routes 22 and 31, left the Myrtle Beach area dotted with large, deep ponds that qualify as wetlands in the Interior Department's survey but do not provide the wildlife habitat or perform the filtering functions of tidal marshes or cypress swamps. (NYT)

So in other words, the Bush administration has presided over a loss of 523,500 acres of ecologically valuable wetlands and marshes, which was offset by a gain of 715,300 acres of...like...koi ponds or something.

It's kind of like if your dad accidentally runs over your pet kitten, and then promises to get you a new kitten, and gets you a new kitten, except it's a toy kitten and not a real live kitten. Yeah--kind of like that.