On March 25, Civic Conversations welcomed Anne Kibbler to discuss the importance of Indiana's wetlands. Kibbler wrote about environmental issues for the The Herald-Times, and was the editor of
Indiana Environmental Reporter at Indiana University's Media School. Kibbler shared that wetlands are important because they serve as a haven for endangered plants and animals, absorb excess water, which helps prevent flooding, and filter out pollution. “Wetlands,” said Kibbler, “are like a person’s kidneys.”
Two hundred years ago, Indiana had 5.5 million acres of wetlands, but now it has only 800,000 acres. Until 2021, Indiana had stronger wetlands protections than many other states. Since that period, however, the Indiana legislature has significantly loosened regulations, allowing people to build more in areas once designated as wetlands.
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Civic Conversations to access the recording.