Protecting vital U.S. wetlands must remain a federal priority

Back in the 1970s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed an enormous functioning hydraulic model of the Chesapeake Bay. Although long ago replaced by much more accurate computer simulations, there was one extremely valuable lesson passed along to the busloads of schoolchildren who would visit the 14.5-acre indoor facility on Kent Island: How shallow it all was. Sure, the deepest part of the bay (in real life, a 174-feet “hole” near Bloody Point not far from Annapolis; in the scale model, 21 inches deep) was impressive, but most of the display would hardly raise a splash if you stomped on it.