View source for Swamp Land Act of 1850

{{short description|US federal law promoting the draining of swampland}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}

A [[United States of America|U.S.]] [[federal law]], the '''Swamp Land Act of 1850''',<ref>[http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/wetlands/uswetlan/century.htm#swamp SWAMP LAND ACTS OF 1849, 1850, AND 1860]</ref> fully titled "An act to enable the State of Arkansas and other States to reclaim the swamp lands within their limits", essentially provided a mechanism for reverting [[land title|title]] of federally-owned [[wetlands|swampland]] to states which would agree to [[drainage|drain]] the land and turn it to productive, agricultural use.<ref>[http://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/ess-nps-wmp-anchor-bay_209078_7.pdf Anchor Bay Watershed Management Plan<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Primarily aimed at the development of [[Florida]]'s [[Everglades]], and transferring some {{convert|20|e6acre|sqmi km2}} of land in the Everglades to the State of Florida<ref>[http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/climatechange01/FinalArticles/GlobalClimateChangeAffect.html Global Climate Change Affecting the Florida Everglades: Anthropogenic Causes for Dis<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>  for this purpose, the law also had application outside Florida, and spurred drainage and development in many areas of the United States, including areas around [[Indiana]]'s [[Kankakee River]],<ref>[http://localism.com/article/179975/Roselawn-Indiana-Back-in-Time-A Roselawn, Indiana - Back in Time A Glance at History<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> [[Michigan]]'s [[Lake Saint Clair (North America)|Lake St. Clair]]'s shores, and elsewhere, and encouraged settlement by immigrants arriving in the United States after that time. Later considered to have been ecologically problematic, many of its provisions were in time reversed by the [[Clean Water Act|Clean Water Act of 1972]]<ref>[http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/3342.php PlanetPapers – Wetland Research Paper<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and later legislation, but its historical effects on U.S. development and settlement patterns remained.

In Louisiana, this law gave the state eight and a half million acres of river swamps and marshes to sell to pay for flood control measures.<ref> [[Greg Guirard|Guirard, Greg]] and C. Ray Brassieur. Inherit The Atchafalaya. Lafayette, LA: Center for Louisiana Studies University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press, 2007.</ref> Under this plan, thousands of acres of virgin cypress in the [[Atchafalaya Basin]] were sold to large corporations, often for seventy-five cents per acre or less. In return, the state began the construction of a few low levees and performed periodic [[dredging]]. But an increase in flooding in the Basin, due to the [[Great Raft]] removal on the upper Atchafalaya River, gave Timber companies more water to float their products to market, allowing the complete destruction of the old growth cypress forests to ensue with little pushback.

== Legacy and related wetlands restoration projects ==
[[File:Slough 5442.jpg|alt=A slough of water surrounded by green grasses and trees|left|thumb|Restored wetland in Grand Kankakee Marsh County Park in Indiana]]
In multiple states affected by the Swamp Land Act of 1850, as well as the Swamp Land Acts of 1849 and 1860, there have since been efforts to restore drained wetlands.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Parrish |first=Abraham |date=2024-02-05 |title=Draining America {{!}} Worlds Revealed |url=https://blogs.loc.gov/maps/2024/02/draining-america |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=The Library of Congress}}</ref>

=== California ===
* [[Dos Rios State Park]] in [[Stanislaus County, California|Stanislaus County]] is the result of restoring farmland drained as a result of the Swamp Land Act of 1850 to functioning wetlands.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=H.R. |date=Spring 2024 |title=The Everything Park |url=https://baynature.org/article/after-fifteen-years-a-new-state-park-in-the-central-valley/ |journal=[[Bay Nature]] |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=28-33}}</ref>

=== Indiana ===

* Grand Junction Plaza Park in [[Westfield, Indiana|Westfield]] was designed around restoring a section Cool Creek to what it looked like before the Swamp Land Act.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brandon |first=Elissaveta M. |date=November 2, 2022 |title=How one Indiana park restored the landscape to its 19th Century glory |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90803239/how-one-indiana-park-restored-the-landscape-to-its-19th-century-glory |access-date=April 22, 2024 |website=Fast Company}}</ref>
* Grand Kankakee Marsh County Park, part of the [[Kankakee River]], was established in 1979, with 920 acres of marshland restored.<ref>{{Cite web |last=NEAL |first=ANDREA |title=Andrea Neal: Draining of Kankakee Basin destroyed Indiana habitat |url=https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/opinion/2016/01/02/andrea-neal-draining-of-kankakee-basin-destroyed-indiana-habita/46557981/ |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=South Bend Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Beaver Lake (Newton County, Indiana)|Beaver Lake]] in Indiana was drained due to land speculation that started with the Swamp Land Act. The lake bed is included in  [[Kankakee Sands]], a nature preserve overseen by the [[The Nature Conservancy|Nature Conservancy]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dobberstein |first=Michael |date=2020 |title=The Selling of Beaver Lake, 1853–1889: How the Largest Lake in Indiana Disappeared |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/813869/pdf |journal=Indiana Magazine of History |volume=116 |issue=2 |pages=122 |doi=10.2979/indimagahist.116.2.02 |via=Academic Search Complete|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=DeVore |first=Molly |date=2023-07-30 |title=Restoration on the range: Kankakee Sands bison a key part of the preserves' environmental efforts |url=https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/bison-kankakee-preservation-conservation-thenatureconservancy-morocco/article_5d434fa4-2d44-11ee-a69a-a76aa5f87ee2.html |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=nwitimes.com |language=en}}</ref>

=== New York ===

* [[New York City]] lost most of its wetlands due to the Swamp Land Act. [[Oyster farming]] is being used to help restore the [[New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary|New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sant |first=Alison |date=February 21, 2023 |title=In NYC, Oyster Gardens are Inspiring Residents to Reimagine the Harbor Estuary |url=https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/nyc-oyster-gardens-reimagine-the-harbor-estuary/ |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=Earth Island Journal}}</ref>

=== Wisconsin ===

* There is ongoing discussion of how the [[University of Wisconsin System]], which obtained land belonging to [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribes through the Swamp Land Act, should compensate those tribes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Redman |first=Henry |date=2024-02-15 |title=UW schools benefit financially from thousands of acres of former tribal land • Wisconsin Examiner |url=https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2024/02/15/uw-schools-benefit-financially-from-thousands-of-acres-of-former-tribal-land/ |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=Wisconsin Examiner |language=en-US}}</ref>

==External links==
* [https://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=9&page=519# Act full text]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Millard Fillmore}}

[[Category:1850s in the environment]]
[[Category:1850 in American law]]
[[Category:Everglades]]
[[Category:United States federal environmental legislation]]
[[Category:United States federal legislation articles needing infoboxes]]