Public Lands S.O.S.

Everglades National Park Photo Gallery

advertisement

The Everglades, or "River of Grass," has been a spot of controversy for the past 150 years, ever since opportunistic Yankees became interested in the agricultural possibilities of this 1.5-million-acre stretch of wetlands—one of the biggest in North America and rivaled only by the Louisiana coastal system. What seemed to early settlers to be a swamp was actually a 50-mile-wide river and one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the country. Water began to get divvied up between urban and agricultural interests, sapping the river—and the American crocodiles, black bears, indigenous plant life, and over 300 species of birds that lived there—of precious freshwater.

Today, the park is home to more than 900 species of animals and 1,100 species of plants—71 of which are now listed as threatened or endangered, including the Florida panther, North America's most endangered species. The Everglades' unique wilderness areas make it a draw for nearly one million visitors each year, netting those who want to camp, canoe, hike, and view wildlife, as well as an estimated $20 billion in ancillary tourist revenue for the region.

At the turn of the 20th century, America's burgeoning industries and the state's growing urban population began to place huge demands on the Floridian aquifer—America's biggest. The U.S. Sugar Corporation was started in 1931 and now farms 194,000 acres of land in southern Florida. Some experts believe changes in the nutrient content and salinity levels, resulting from reduced water flows, have spawned large amounts of algae, which in turn has killed native sea grasses and sponges, reduced fish stocks, and spread disease among the native coral.

Water-management plans for the area came into vogue in the early 1900s, but so far nothing has worked. The first levees, built in the 1920s, led to hurricane-induced floods along Lake Okeechobee that killed 1,800 people. In the 1940s, with irrigation canals cropping up all over, the Everglades dried out to the point where sections caught fire. In 1948, the Army Corps of Engineers implemented a complicated system of canals, levees, and pump stations to control agricultural demands on the Everglades' water.

The system disrupted the natural north-south flow of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades, siphoning freshwater out to the ocean in the name of flood control. After 50 years of such management, environmental groups and scientists pointed to the threatened extinction of some 70 species, including the American crocodile, as proof that the system wasn't working. The once four-million-acre wetland system had dwindled to less than half its natural size.

The Corps retraced their steps, and in 1999, at the request of the Clinton administration, presented the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). At first, environmental groups were pleased that such a plan was in the making. When details came public, however, groups like Friends of the Everglades and the National Audubon Society cried foul, claiming that CERP was just another misguided management plan that would continue to parch the ecosystem while slaking the thirst of agriculture and development. "The CERP system is entirely artificial," reads a statement published by Friends of the Everglades in March 2004. "It rejects outright the natural processes that have been crucial to the creation and maintenance of the Everglades for thousands of years." Friends of the Everglades and other eco allies are now fighting on two fronts, both to restore the natural water flow and prevent further dumping.

CERP managers defend the plan, saying that the Everglades can't go back to the way it was, and that the new plan provides higher volumes of cleaner water for the park. Whichever side is right won't be known until a series of court battles over the $8 billion restoration plan are settled, and effects on the ecosystem are seen. Meanwhile, the Sierra Club continues to fight for decreased phosphorous runoff from sugar plantations and other pollution. "2003 was a difficult year for Everglades restoration," says Friends of the Everglades President David Reiner. "But there is still hope for the River of Grass."