The NY State Legislature passed the Freshwater Wetlands Act in 1975 with the intent to preserve, protect, and conserve freshwater wetlands and their benefits with the general welfare and beneficial economic, social, and agricultural development of the state. Updated regulations in the 2022 amendment, which took affect January 1st, 2025, potentially lay the groundwork for state regulation of Blind Bay.
The Act identifies wetlands on the basis of vegetation because certain types of plants out-compete others when they are in wet soils, and so are good indicators of wet conditions over time. Characteristic plants include wetland trees and shrubs (like willows and alders), emergent plants (like cattails and sedges), aquatic plants (water lilies), and bog mat vegetation.
Parts of Blind Bay are already considered sensitive wetland by New York State. The map below shows Blind Bay on the NYS Environmental Resource Mapper. In green are Previously Mapped Freshwater Wetlands from before the 2022 Amendment. In purple are non-regulatory Informational Freshwater Wetlands which outline the general location and extend of freshwater wetland areas.
The NYS Environmental Resource Mapper depicts Blind Bay in green, indicating state-recognized wetlands from before the 2022 Amendment. The purple sections indicate non-regulatory Informational Freshwater Wetlands. See the map here.
An expansion of state protection in Blind Bay, in addition to legitimate findings in the Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) scheduled to be released next fall, would further the argument that Blind Bay is an irreplaceable and valuable part of the St. Lawrence River ecosystem.
More information about updates to the NYS Freshwater Wetland Act can be found on the DEC website.