If you’ve ever driven past a construction site and noticed black silt fences, straw wattles snaking along slopes, or muddy water pooling near storm drains, you’ve seen erosion and sediment control — or the lack of it — in action. What you might not have noticed is whether a CPESC was on the job. Spoiler: it matters a lot.

Wetlands are not always “wet” when you happen to visit them. They are dynamic systems shaped by snowmelt, rainfall, groundwater, soil characteristics, vegetation, and site position. Some hold water for long periods, while others only show themselves clearly for a short window each year.

That is why timing is a consideration during any site visit. In May, a low spot in a project area may be full of water. By August, that same area may be dry enough to walk across in regular boots. Same site, different season, very different evidence. A wetland assessment is not just about whether there is water on site that day. It is about understanding how water moves through the area over time.

Every plant growing on a piece of land got there for a reason. It did not show up by accident. It is there because the soil, the moisture, the drainage, and the disturbance history of that site made it possible. Once you understand that, walking across a landscape starts to feel less like a nature stroll and more like reading a report that the land wrote about itself.

This is something AJM's vegetation crew thinks about constantly in the field. Here is a small window into how we read what plants are telling us.