A historical study of America's (US) coastal conservation and development from colonial settlement to the passage of the National Estuary Protection Act of 1968. The investigation of laws, scientific studies, government programs and harbor development reveals the origins of both ecological science and a discovery of the more biologically productive habitats or living communities nourished by the "tide-mulched" grasslands beside the sea. The importance of wetlands as obstacles to be filled and drained in the early history of the nation is overturned in the 1960s by scientific observations of life's abundance in tidal marshes. This turnaround in attitudes precipitated an effort to protect the nation's seashores, but especially estuaries; places where rivers meet the ocean.

Once considered obstacles to progress in the early nation, the protection of estuaries for fisheries, clean water, and tidal marsh preservation marked a little-appreciated turning point in the environmental conservation movement after World War Two. As protection against storm tide and flooding due to sea rise, tidal marshes, oyster reefs, and mud flats are viewed today as necessary components of coastal ecology by scientists, recreation enthusiasts, and urban planners alike.
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[1]: http://Tidal Marshes are rich in life.