State lawmakers will consider this year whether to protect isolated wetlands left vulnerable to development by a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

A bill was introduced Wednesday in the Senate requiring permits if people want to fill or drain isolated wetlands. These types of wetlands are watery depressions, such as Carolina Bays, not directly connected to rivers, streams or the ocean.

Thousands of acres of these wetlands were left unprotected in South Carolina by the 2001 decision. The state, as well as others, has struggled since then to decide whether to regulate development in these wetlands.