ABSTRACT
Recently, the U.S. National Research Council (2001) recommended utilizing a watershed perspective together with science-based, rapid assessment procedures to track wetland mitigation and restoration. Rapid assessment tools can be used as a warning sign to give a quick idea of wetland condition and determine sites in need of further assessment or immediate protection. Many U.S. states have or are developing three-tiered assessment procedures that include an initial landscape-scale assessment using aerial imagery (tier 1), followed by a rapid condition assessment (tier 2), and a more intensive monitoring program (tier 3) (e.g., Miller and Gunsalus 1999, Mack 2001, Fennessy et al. 2004).
