Great Dismal Swamp: How Draining for Timber Created a Carbon Time Bomb and Why Rewetting Is the Fix

The Great Dismal Swamp, once covering a million acres across Virginia and North Carolina, was drained starting in the 1760s by a company co-founded by George Washington. The ditches cut by enslaved laborers turned a carbon-rich peatland into a fire-prone, decomposing source of emissions. Major fires in 2008 and 2011 released about 6.2 million metric tons of CO2 combined, showing how draining wetlands accelerates climate damage. Today, restoration teams are installing water-control structures to raise the water table and re-saturate the peat. Rewetting slows decomposition, cuts carbon release, and reduces the risk of smoldering underground fires. The effort is not a quick fix, but it represents a practical step toward protecting a key carbon sink and restoring an ecosystem that also shelters unique communities and wildlife.