Big Gum Swamp Wilderness

Big Gum Swamp Wilderness doesn’t need to be pretty to be essential. This 13,660-acre wilderness in North Carolina’s Croatan National Forest protects rare pocosin wetlands—dense, boggy ecosystems that filter water, prevent floods, and shelter black bears and red wolves. It’s wet, wild, and overlooked. But swamps are carbon sinks, biodiversity hotspots, and proof that not all wilderness looks like a postcard. Rep the lands that do the dirty work.