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Learn About Michigan's Wetlands

A lush wetland with clumps of green reeds scattered across the water. A power line runs in the background
Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy

Learn About Michigan's Wetlands

Most people are familiar with the cattail or lily pad wetlands found in areas with standing water, but wetlands also can be grassy meadows, shrubby fields, or mature forests. Many wetland areas have only a high ground water table and standing water may not be visible. Types of wetlands include deciduous swamps, wet meadows, emergent marshes, conifer swamps, wet prairies, shrub-scrub swamps, fens, and bogs.

This page offers resources about wetlands, including definitions, how to identify, mitigation and restoration, regulations, a list of frequently asked questions, and a Wetlands Map Viewer.

Wetlands project in Lenawee County - after (August 2013)

What are wetlands?

Wetlands are land with enough water under normal circumstances to support wetland plants or aquatic life.

Wetlands are usually referred to as a bog, swamp, or marsh.

Learn why wetlands are important
a wetland inventory map produced by WLSU

Are there wetlands on my property?

Wetlands are areas where land and water meet. Whether water is slightly above or below the surface of the land, the one thing that makes the difference when identifying whether or not an area is a wetland is the presence of water.

Land does not have to be wet all of the time in order to be defined as a wetland. In some cases, it will not be immediately obvious that a wetland exists. The presence of water will, however, cause a number of physical, chemical and biological characteristics to develop. These characteristics can be used to identify and locate wetlands.

Get the resources to find out
A low lying wetland with trees and tufts of grass emerging from the water

How are wetlands identified?

Identification of wetlands using the federal method involves three factors: how much wetland plants there are, hydric (wetland) soils, and signs of hydrology (presence of water). 

The presence of water (the hydrology) is necessary at certain times of the year for the development of a wetland. The timing, frequency, and level of saturation each year influences what kind of plants can grow in an area and the type of chemical and physical reactions which occur in the soil. 

Learn the technical definitions
View of a completed and established wetland mitigation site.

Wetland Mitigation

The purpose of "compensatory wetland mitigation" (commonly referred to as just "wetland mitigation") is the replacement of unavoidably lost wetland resources with man-made or restored wetlands.

The goal of wetland mitigation is replacing the functions and public benefits of the lost wetland as much as possible.

Technical details of wetland mitigation
Preview of the wetlands map viewer
Preview of the wetlands map viewer

Wetlands map viewer

Within this application, you will find information on land cover, soils, and the National Wetland Inventory. It is not intended to be used to determine specific locations and jurisdictional boundaries of wetland areas.


Launch web map

View the interactive map to explore the wetlands.

User guide

View the user guide for the wetlands map viewer.

Access data

The data used in the map is available to download and to view as a table.

Maps and data portal

Find all of EGLE's web maps and open data centralized to one location.

Frequently Asked Questions