Here's another piece I wrote for our community magazine. The December issue was packed, so we chose to save this article for January. Along with it will be printed another article called "Invaders." That article is about the foreign animals and plants that have been mistakenly introduced or deliberately dumped into the Everglades ecosystem, threatening the native species. I'll run that article next month. Meanwhile...
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| The grackle sings of his Everglades home. |
Seventy years ago this month, in a ceremony led by Harry
Truman, Florida’s Everglades National Park was dedicated. One of our largest
national parks, it is one of the few parks established for its great
bio-diversity, rather than its scenic wonders. That same year, 1947, journalist
and environmentalist Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, recognizing that great and
important bio-diversity, published her definitive work, The Everglades: River of Grass, from which the area got its
nickname.
Having been interested and involved in the Everglades and
its future since the 1920’s, and wanting to see it become a national park, Douglas
wrote: “There are no other Everglades in the world… They are unique…in the
simplicity, the diversity, the related harmony of the forms of life they
enclose. The miracle of light pours over the green and brown expanse of saw
grass and water, shining and slow-moving below, the grass and water that is the
meaning and the central fact of the Everglades of Florida.”
The Everglades system is one of storage and supply. It
begins in the slightly higher, northern part of the state as streams, rivers,
and lakes interact and drain. The water flows south, through the limestone
formations that make up much of the state, to Lake Okeechobee. Generally, from
there on further south, the water flows on the surface.
In the post-WWII housing boom, Florida was recognized as
having one of the best climates in the country. The vast, almost untouched
Everglades, though largely inhospitable, were enticing to real estate and
agricultural developers. Even before the postwar era, few questioned the
draining of the swamps for reclamation of land for agriculture. Drainage canals
were dug in south Florida as early as 1882. Eventually, in the later quarter of
the last century, it became increasingly evident that the unchecked development
was having a damaging effect on the ecological balance of the region: an
alarming decline in the water quality, an alarming increase in flooding as well
as drought, and declines in several commercial areas, especially commercial
fishing. Remedial measures are now being taken to bring the area back as close
as possible to its pristine state.
Everglades National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and
an International Biosphere Reserve, lies in the southernmost section of the
state, at the end of the Everglades system. It is home to hundreds of types of
animals, birds, and plants, and is the refuge of endangered species including
four species of sea turtle, the beautiful Florida panther, the unlovely West
Indian manatee, and the ominous American crocodile.
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| Spatterdock, another native |
There are several Visitor Centers within the park, and
several access points by road and water. In various places throughout park
visits can paddle, pedal, or hoof it – on guided tours or on their own. Camping
facilities are available both in the “Frontcountry,” near Homestead, with RVs
and tents, and in the “Backcountry.” Though some are available on foot, most of
these backcountry sites can be reached only by water. (These are the sites
where you might want to stay if you are on a days-long canoe or kayak trip.) There
are boat concessions available for coastal and bay tours, and airboat tours, exciting
and not to be missed, within the River of Grass.
Begin your research at nps.gov/ever/index. And if you go in
the wetter, summer months, do not
forget to pack the bug spray
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