Highlights
Everglades National Park was created in 1947 to protect the southern end of the Everglades ecosystem, a wildlife-rich wilderness threatened by the growth of the human population of South Florida. Although most of the 1.5 million-acre park is remote and difficult to explore, it contains extensive hiking paths, boardwalks and canoe trails. Among the most famous is the Anhinga Trail, a boardwalk from which it's possible to look down at the struggle for food and life among alligators, wading birds, turtles and snakes. A 15-mile paved loop at Shark Valley allows people to walk, bicycle or ride a tram through the heart of the sawgrass marsh, with the chance to see alligators, deer and wading birds...
Everglades National Park was created in 1947 to protect the southern end of the Everglades ecosystem, a wildlife-rich wilderness threatened by the growth of the human population of South Florida. Although most of the 1.5 million-acre park is remote and difficult to explore, it contains extensive hiking paths, boardwalks and canoe trails. Among the most famous is the Anhinga Trail, a boardwalk from which it's possible to look down at the struggle for food and life among alligators, wading birds, turtles and snakes. A 15-mile paved loop at Shark Valley allows people to walk, bicycle or ride a tram through the heart of the sawgrass marsh, with the chance to see alligators, deer and wading birds.
The park's beauties are subtler than the glaciers, mountain ranges, grizzly bears and buffalo herds of some of the showier national parks. The park incorporates a wide variety of habitats, the sawgrass marshes of the classic Everglades, mangroves shorelines, marl prairie, hardwood hammock and pinelands. The park also encompasses Florida Bay. Along the southern coast of the park live American crocodiles, part of the only population in the United States. The park's creation marked a milestone in the history of American conservation. For the first time, according to the National Park Service, "a large tract of wilderness was permanently protected not for its scenic value, but for the benefit of the unique diversity of life it sustained."
Among the species found at the park are the alligator, smooth-billed ani, manatee, Florida panther, American white pelican, roseate spoonbill and wood stork. Extending to the very tip of the Florida peninsula, the park occupies portions of Collier, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. The only highway through the park is State Road 9336. The park receives more than 1 million visitors a year. The park faces several threats. A row of rock mines blasts and digs for limestone on its eastern border. Several non-native species have taken hold in the park, including a breeding population of Burmese pythons. The park's managers are working on a plan to stop boat propellers from tearing up seagrass on the floor of shallow Florida Bay, a delicate issue that risks angering people who fish in the bay. And most important, the historic flow of water into the park from the north has been disrupted. The land encompassed by the park forms the southern end of an ecosystem that was once dominated by the slow flow of shallow water from Lake Okeechobee. An elaborate drainage and water-supply system constructed gradually over the past century has altered the flow of water, flooding some areas and parching others.
The federal government has established several programs to restore the park and the larger ecosystem that surrounds it. A key element involves ripping out levees to increase the flow of fresh water into the park. Among the issues to be determined is whether to raise several miles of Tamiami Trail to allow water and wildlife to pass underneath.
The park's beauties are subtler than the glaciers, mountain ranges, grizzly bears and buffalo herds of some of the showier national parks. The park incorporates a wide variety of habitats, the sawgrass marshes of the classic Everglades, mangroves shorelines, marl prairie, hardwood hammock and pinelands. The park also encompasses Florida Bay. Along the southern coast of the park live American crocodiles, part of the only population in the United States. The park's creation marked a milestone in the history of American conservation. For the first time, according to the National Park Service, "a large tract of wilderness was permanently protected not for its scenic value, but for the benefit of the unique diversity of life it sustained."
Among the species found at the park are the alligator, smooth-billed ani, manatee, Florida panther, American white pelican, roseate spoonbill and wood stork. Extending to the very tip of the Florida peninsula, the park occupies portions of Collier, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. The only highway through the park is State Road 9336. The park receives more than 1 million visitors a year. The park faces several threats. A row of rock mines blasts and digs for limestone on its eastern border. Several non-native species have taken hold in the park, including a breeding population of Burmese pythons. The park's managers are working on a plan to stop boat propellers from tearing up seagrass on the floor of shallow Florida Bay, a delicate issue that risks angering people who fish in the bay. And most important, the historic flow of water into the park from the north has been disrupted. The land encompassed by the park forms the southern end of an ecosystem that was once dominated by the slow flow of shallow water from Lake Okeechobee. An elaborate drainage and water-supply system constructed gradually over the past century has altered the flow of water, flooding some areas and parching others.
The federal government has established several programs to restore the park and the larger ecosystem that surrounds it. A key element involves ripping out levees to increase the flow of fresh water into the park. Among the issues to be determined is whether to raise several miles of Tamiami Trail to allow water and wildlife to pass underneath.
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Everglades deer spared as water levels subside
South Florida Sun-SentinelRon Bergeron's eyes lit up as he looked around the little tree island in the midst of the Everglades. There in the soft, dark, leaf-covered soil of the island were freshly made deer tracks. "I am so elated by what I've seen," said Bergeron, a...Tags: Conservation, Natural Resources, Tourism and Leisure, Weston (Broward, Florida), Wetlands
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Coming Up: Design, antique and gardening events
Flamingo Park Holiday Home Tour: Nine historic homes 4-8 p.m. Sunday. Wine and food served. Tickets, maps, candlelight concert, homemade cookies (8:15 p.m.) in 700 block of Claremore Drive, five blocks north of Belvedere Road between Lake and Georgia...Tags: Georgia, Broward County, Literature, Tourism and Leisure, Fort Lauderdale
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How to be a park volunteer
Getting involved Volunteers in the National Park Service range from grade schoolers to senior citizens. "A good volunteer is someone who has enthusiasm, and is excited about the park," said Jackie Dostourian, volunteer coordinator at Everglades National...Tags: Everglades, Gardens and Parks, Tourism and Leisure
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Volunteers enjoy helping to maintain Everglades National Park
South Florida Sun-SentinelRetired Bell South training manager Dick Johnson stood in a remote wilderness campsite earlier this week , aiming the nozzle of a pressure washer at a wooden platform for a tent. A few yards away, his wife, Joyce, was scrubbing picnic tables, preparing...Tags: Dick Johnson, Everglades, Gardens and Parks, Tourism and Leisure, Schools
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Wildlife in Everglades threatened
McClatchy-TribuneThe Everglades is drowning. Canals along Alligator Alley have spilled over banks into roadside swales. Deer have been driven from flooded-out tree islands to strips of dry ground - mostly canal levees, but a few have even been spotted on the porches of...Tags: Conservation, Miami (Miami-Dade, Florida), Natural Resources, Animals, Hunting
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Experience Miami on a budget
The Associated PressIt might be notorious for its late-night party scene, swanky beach hotels with steeply priced drinks and the beachgoers who wear barely-there $300 swimsuits, but vacationing Miami-style doesn't have to cost a fortune. From $3 beers to staying at a hostel...Tags: Marley & Me (movie), Adults, Restaurant and Catering Industry, Miami (Miami-Dade, Florida), Rudy Giuliani
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Everglades restoration 'bogged down' by red tape, funding delays
South Florida Sun-SentinelEverglades restoration remains "bogged down" by procedural delays and lack of federal funding that threatens to further erode the River of Grass, a team of scientists concluded in a report to Congress released Monday. The team found that "scant" progress...Tags: Government, Everglades, Renovation, Water Supply, Environmental Pollution
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Environmentalists want a more-natural Everglades restoration plan
South Florida Sun-SentinelThe original plan for restoring the Everglades would tighten human control over the battered, shrunken South Florida wilderness. Artificial wells drilled 1,000 feet into the earth. Walled, above-ground reservoirs. Diesel-powered pumps. The land of...Tags: Technology, South Florida Water Management District, Conservation, Renovation, Natural Resources
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18 suicides reported in national parks this year
Associated PressHaving mailed a farewell letter to his family back in Minnesota, Jerry O. Wolff stepped off a shuttle bus on a sunny Sunday morning and disappeared into Utah's rugged Canyonlands National Park. "I am gone in a remote wilderness where I can return my body...Tags: Colorado, Utah, People, Employees, Euthanasia
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Florida Keys: Seven stops on 'The Animal Tour'
Sun-Sentinel.comFor some, the Keys are all about the wild nightlife of Key West. For my family, the highlight of a visit to the Keys has always been the wildlife. In fact, we christened our last visit to the Keys "The Animal Tour " because we organized our trip around...Tags: Florida Keys Vacations, Conservation, Natural Resources, Tourism and Leisure, Ernest Hemingway
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FIELD & STREAM'S BARGAIN WINTER FISHING ESCAPES
- Grand Isle, La. (61 degrees/$12 camping) - Everglades National Park, Fla. (78/$2) - Bull Shoals State Park, Ark. (44/$10) - San Juan River, N.M. (38/$8) - Lake Amistad, Texas (56/$8) - Long Island, Bahamas (80/$150*) - East Cape Baja, Mexico (75/$...Tags: Rivers, Bodies of Water, Gardens and Parks, Tourism and Leisure, Texas
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Wonder No. 1: Everglades National Park has subtle charms of its own
Travel Editor"It's the place that makes this place worth living in," my friend Mark said when I told him I was going to the Everglades. "I've never been," said my friend David, a Miami native, when I told him I'd just come back. One of the many things that...Tags: Rivers, Natural Science, Natural Resources, Tourism and Leisure, Animals
Dec 5, 2008
|Column| South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Dec 5, 2008
|Story| South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Nov 29, 2008
|Story| South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Nov 29, 2008
|Story| South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Oct 26, 2008
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Oct 23, 2008
|Story| Associated Press
Sep 30, 2008
|Story| South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Jun 29, 2008
|Story| South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Jun 29, 2008
|Story| Los Angeles Times
Jan 23, 2008
|Story| Newsday
Dec 23, 2007
|Story| Chicago Tribune
Aug 19, 2007
|Story| South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Original site for Everglades National Park topic gallery.
