The Martha's Vineyard Film Society was flooded not with water but with discussion of it Monday, as a veritable who's who of regional coastal experts gathered for the 2022 Coastal Conference.

By the year 2070, salt marshes on Martha’s Vineyard are expected to decrease by nearly 200 acres as sea levels rise, forcing shorelines and floodplains inland.

Though it is fall, it is a good time for wetland lovers to spring into action to protect vernal pools.

Neither surf nor turf, land or sea, salt marshes are a spongy, mucky, stinky in-between zone full of biting, stinging, snapping creatures. Yet they are stunning to the eye — think Poucha Pond, Mattakesett Bay, Nashaquitsa Pond. And more importantly they are one of the most productive ecosystems on earth.

Salt marshes — our local coastal wetlands — provide recreation, jobs, human health and safety protections, and an incredible array of environmental benefits.