Tidal Wetlands 1970's represents the historic regulatory tidal wetland boundaries produced during the early 1970's by the State of Connecticut Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, which defined the areas of tidal wetlands that were subject to the 1969 Tidal Wetlands Act.
The first comprehensive tidal wetlands mapping of the state was undertaken during the 1970's following the passing of the Tidal Wetland Act (TWA) in 1969. The TWA established a permit program to regulate activities conducted in tidal wetlands. The TWA had a mandatory mapping requirement to let property owners know the approximate location of regulated tidal wetland areas. Unfortunately, during the adoption of the regulations, the tidal wetland maps were given greater importance, than was originally intended, such that the maps were used to determine the regulated area rather than the actual site conditions. The mandated revisions to the maps were never undertaken as no additional funding was authorized. (See the Tidal Wetlands 1990's Datalayer for subsequent wetlands mapping.)
The regulatory tidal wetland boundaries were surveyed in the field and these boundaries were transferred to 1" = 200' (1: 24000 scale) mylars derived from black and white low altitude aerial photography. It is known that the mapping criteria did change and evolve as the surveyors became more experienced with tidal wetland delineation. It also was not unusual for controversial parcels to be omitted as a result of adverse comments received at public hearings prior to the adoption of the maps. Additionally, no maps were ever produced to show "formerly connected" wetlands, a special type of wetlands. Thus, even at the time of their adoption, the 1970's tidal wetland maps did not include all known tidal wetlands in Connecticut.
For more information, please refer to the Tidal Wetlands Report at http://www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/gis/coastalresources/tidal_wetlands_report.pdf .
The layer does not depict current conditions. It is not updated.