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The Uniqueness of the Florida Everglades
By Lori Litchman
 ew
places in the United States, or even the world, boast as unique
an environment as the Florida Everglades. The largest remaining
subtropical wilderness in the continental United States, the Everglades
are less than an hour's drive from Miami and see about one million
visitors per year. Rivers, lakes, ponds, marshes, freshwater, saltwater,
prairies, forests, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. You
name it, and the Everglades has got it. The wilderness of the Southern
Florida national park contains 1.5 million acres of vast saw grass
prairies, deep mangrove swamps, subtropical jungle and the warm
waters of the Florida Bay. It has about 150 species of trees and
treelike plants, 40 species of mammals, hundreds of bird species
and an array of reptiles and amphibians, including crocodiles and
alligators.
  n
1947, activist and author Marjory Stoneman Douglas dubbed the Everglades
a "River of Grass" in her best-selling book, The Everglades:
River of Grass. Douglas was dubbed the "Mother of the Everglades,"
and when she first published her book in 1947, residents and visitors
were finally made aware of the uniqueness of the Everglades. Douglas
lived in southern Florida from 1915 to her death in 1998. She was
108 years old when she died, having worked for years trying to preserve
the Everglades. The phrase "River of Grass" as coined
by Douglas comes from the plains of tall, sharp saw grass over which
shallow waters flow. The so-called river runs from the Kissimee
River to the Florida Bay and stretches about 60 miles in width.
  he
park was established and dedicated by former President Harry S.
Truman in 1948, according tothe detailed history of the Everglades
provided by the National
Wildlife Federation. The year before, it had been devastated
by a hurricane that left most of Southern Florida underwater. Soon
after the flood, the Army Corps of Engineers took control of the
area's water management. In the 1950s and 60s, the Army Corps, however,
caused severe problems for the ecosystem of the Everglades. The
Corps built canals diverting water to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf
of Mexico and built levees designed to prevent flooding. Also part
of the water management was the draining of sections of the Everglades
for farming. The result was devastating to the ecosystem of the
Everglades.
 oday,
the Everglades are half of their original size. In response to the
Everglades' decline, the U.S. Congress authorized the review of
the Everglades water management program in 1992. The restoration
plan calls for a united effort to deal with the area's watershed
issues. The mission of the Central and Southern Florida Project
Comprehensive Plan is to help save the "endangered ecosystem"
of the Everglades by addressing four fundamental issues: "the
quantity, quality, timing and distribution of water." But according
to Scientific American, some scientists say the plan won't be able
to restore the Everglades to its original splendor. This past January,
President George Bush and his brother Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida,
signed a $7.8 billion agreement to make sure the water pushed out
to sea years ago is channeled back into the Everglades. 68 separate
projects make up the restoration plan to harness 1.7 billion gallons
of water and funnel it back into the dehydrated Everglades.
 ne
of the fallouts of the canals established by the Army Corps has
been the isolation of the Florida Panther. The canals caused a barrier
for the panther, locking it in to a specific region. There are currently
only about 50 of the elusive creatures left. Because of hunting
and loss of habitat, the Florida Panther is the only known population
of mountain lions east of the Mississippi River. Several years ago,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service brought several female Texas
cougars into the area to try and revive the Florida Panther population.
 nother
problem for the Everglades has been a nearby flourishing sugarcane
industry. Polluted runoff from the sugarcane and other agricultural
endeavors has altered the chemistry of the Everglades' water.
 ut
despite its problems, the park remains as popular as ever, with
millions of visitors making it their destination. According to the
American
Park Network, the southern part of Florida where the Everglades
is located has two seasons - wet and dry. The rains begin around
May or June and continue through the summer months. The rainy season
ends around September or October. The American Park Network web
site also contains information on everything from where to stay
to the history and geology of the park. Another great place to find
information on anything from the Everglades' unique wildlife to
places to dine to Everglades arts and entertainment is www.florida-everglades.com.
You could also find out more history of the park and even take a
virtual tour of the nation's smallest post office, located in Ochopee.
For More Information:
Everglades
Information Network
A library project that contains the Everglades digital library and
an Everglades on-line database
Ivy
Video
Videos about the Everglades.
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