The Friends of the Dragon Run will discuss the importance of non-tidal wetlands at a meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 14, in the community room of the Gloucester Library, Main Street Center.

Kory Angstadt, a marine scientist with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, will give the presentation titled “Don’t Drain the Swamp: The Importance of Non-Tidal Wetlands.”

The program is free and open to the public.

The Dragon Run wilderness is a unique ecosystem which has been ranked second in ecological significance in the Chesapeake Bay region by the Smithsonian Institution, a release stated. The character of the Dragon is made up of a non-tidal blackwater stream, vast areas of flooded woodlands, cypress swamps, and freshwater marshes. The Dragon flows 40 miles along and through non-tidal and tidal cypress swamp situated in portions of Essex, King and Queen, Middlesex and Gloucester counties.

Angstadt holds a bachelor’s degree in marine science and has been ...