Birds on the Brain

mothernaturenetwork:

Photo of the day: Clean Water Act celebrates 40 years of water conservation
On Oct. 18, 1972, the United States passed the landmark Clean Water Act. Crafted with the goal of ensuring that all U.S. waters — including these coastal wetlands seen at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Newburyport, Mass. — are “fishable and swimmable,” the ambitious act has seen its fair share of successes and shortcomings in the past 40 years. Before the CWA passed, only a third of all water in the country was safe for swimming and fishing.