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[SG] Peat moss

This was written by Jennifer Riley and posted on another
list. I believe it is pertinent to all gardeners.  Jenn gave
me permission to repost it here.  She is a biologist with the
Federal government currently working in the Delaware Water Gap
area of Pennsylvania.  I thought Jenn's post was compelling and
should be heard by as many people as possible.  Since she is not
on this list, if you would like to respond to her, please let me
know & I will put you in touch.

Regards,
Jaime
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> To all of you who use peat (which at one time I also used):
>
> I truly wish I could take you all to work with me to visit an active
> peat mining operation.  I am a wetlands biologist for a Federal
> wetland regulatory agency which issues permits for peat
> extraction operations.

> 1.  The first step is that a wetland area, typically a forested pristine
> wetland is bulldozed.  All vegetation is removed and wildlife
> species that are relatively mobile leave the area, the rest are destroyed.
>
> 2.  Next, the peat which has taken hundreds, sometimes thousands
> of years to accumulate is removed.
>
> 3.  During this process, water quality is adversely affected, since this
> activity releases heavy metals into the water, usually serves
> to acidify waters, thus eliminating trout from the receiving
> waterway.

> 4.  Once all of the plant and animal life is removed, the area is no longer a
> wetland.  It cannot remove pollutants from the water.  It can
> no longer serve as a storage area for floodwaters.  It does not provide
> any meaningful wildlife habitat.  It no longer serves to discharge or
> recharge groundwater.

> 5.  These activities destroy thousands of acres of wetlands in the
> US and Canada.
>
> 6.  Peat is not a renewable resource, unless you are speaking in
> geological terms (hundreds/thousands of years).
>
> 7.  There are alternatives to using peat, some of which have
> already been discussed.
>
> This is all factual information, but these words are no substitute for
> seeing the real thing with your own eyes as I do during the
> course of my work.
>
> I'll get down from my soap box now.
> Thanks for reading this.
>
> Jenn R.
> PA/Zone 5
>
>
jknoble@warwick.net
Z6/5, NW NJ
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