The Importance of an Everlasting Everglades
The Garden of Eden was a land described in the first chapters of the Bible. Although there are many versions of this story, the key details are the following. It was a beautiful sanctuary where all the animals would coexist. Its abundance of trees and fruits provided anything its human inhabitants, Adam and Eve, needed to live. It almost sounded like a fairytale, but many of us aren't aware a land not so different from the Garden of Eden could be right in our backyard. A certain marshy, beautiful place called the Everglades. A quick description of it would be a well-known tourist attraction that’s also a wetland and provides a habitat for tropical and marshland plants and animals. It was only until a few decades ago that the Everglades was given the recognition it deserves. With this recognition, humans became aware that not only is the Everglades a beneficial wetland for wildlife. They also protect us from storms and we depend on the Everglades for much of our livelihood.
To begin with, the Everglades is one of the few places where wildlife could be significantly thriving. In "Wetlands and Habitat Loss" by Elaine
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From filtering water, to attracting tourists, to providing jobs, to being a big source of food, the Everglades seems to be able to do it all. In "Are the Everglades Forever?" , the author mentions that "humans have benefited from the Everglades in many ways." She later states that making the Everglades into a National Park lead to the creation of park and tourism jobs. Moreover, in Wetlands and Habitat loss it says, "Wetlands also improve water quality by filtering, cleaning, and storing water. They are also important centers for hunting, fishing, and recreation." 7 million Floridians depend on the Everglades as their main source of water. The Everglades is more helpful to Florida than many people have
Florida became a state in 1845 and almost immediately people began proposing to drain the Everglades. In 1848, a government report said that draining the Everglades would be easy, and there would be no bad effect. Canals and dams were dug to control seasonal flooding. Farmers grew vegetables in the rich soil of the drained land, Ranchers had their cattle graze on the dry land, and new railways lines were constructed to connect communities throughout south Florida; but the ecosystem of the Everglades was not suited for either farming or ranching. The natural cycle of dry and wet seasons brought a devastating series of droughts and floods. These had always been a p...
I live in Houma, Louisiana so I have tons of experience with the bayou region of South Louisiana. Everywhere I look in Houma there is a bayou, which is a good and bad thing. With a bayou comes many great things such as Egrets, Spanish Moss, etc. The bad thing about seeing many bayous is that it is a constant reminder that one day, Houma might be a part of the Gulf of Mexico. Also my dad’s side of the family is from Chauvin and Golden Meadow which is not too far from where the real damage of eroding wetlands is. I go down to Chauvin sometimes to visit my Nanny and her husband. I always see houses on stilts because of possible flooding that could come if a hurricane passes through. One of the issues that Mike Tidwell caught my interest was that the wildlife in bayous will one day be diminished into smaller numbers. That is because the eroding land causes brown shrimp, crabs, and other seafood to die out. Many residents in South Louisiana make a living off of seafood so to have most of that industry die out will hurt the economy of South Louisiana. I just found this issue very interesting.
This is a very critical situation that needs to be fixed urgently. The habitats of the Everglades depend on an annual water cycle which has been hindered by the development construction which was imposed on the farmland. Back in the 19th century, developers were keen on draining all the swamps in the Everglades for developmental purposes. Their intention was to grow sugarcane plantations on the land yet sugarcanes are highly destructive to the Everglades. They too disrupt the water cycle to which the wildlife has adapted. The Florida sugar industry built on the southern Shore of Lake Okeechobee directly clocks the water source for the remaining Everglades hence destroying the habitats of the wildlife existing in the affected areas.
The effect of the Everglades in water supply is wildlife. One effect of this is, the water is dirty and unclean with mercury, phosphorus, and other hazardous waste. As a result of that, the water is killing the animals. In passage one it states,”Quantity and diversity of the wetlands wildlife
...n, the Louisiana wetlands are an extremely valuable asset to the State of Louisiana and the United States. The continual loss of Louisiana wetlands has the potential to have an immensely negative effect on the economy at a state and national level. Over 2 million people live in the Louisiana coastal parishes (Field et al., 1991). The majority of people living on the Louisiana coast make their living from things that are directly related to the wetlands. The Louisiana wetlands make up the largest wetland community in America and is being lost at a rate greater than the other wetland communities in the country. The suggested strategies that are being taken into consideration could be helpful but it seems that the State of Louisiana is not as concerned as it should be given the future consequences and much like climate change coastal erosion is not being taken serious.
Despite the overall opinion of our class, I enjoyed Hugh Willoughby’s Across the Everglades. The short history he provided and the description of his journey through mangroves and saw grass was both enlightening and entertaining. He offered insight into the historical part of Florida that we, in 2004, will never know of by first hand experience. Willoughby’s journal was also the perfect handbook for an Everglades class canoe trip. From the intricate metaphors he weaves into his facts to the influence of opinion behind those facts, Willoughby’s work captures the minds of his readers.
The invasive species, the Burmese Python has done irreparable damage to the Everglades National Park in Florida. A steady decline in mammals has been observed since the introduction of Burmese pythons occurred. Burmese pythons were first introduced into the United States as part of the pet trade which then led to the escape or intentional release out into the wild. The first notation of these species arriving was in the year 2000. However, within just eleven years this invasive species had done such a large amount of damage to Florida’s Ecosystem that many species had gone almost completely extinct.
...restore natural lands. The federal, state, and local governments are joining forces to bring these pristine natural lands back to their original splendor and beauty. "The question of why we should protect the Everglades has now evolved into how we should restore the Everglades," according to Suzie Unger. "Everglades National Park is the largest remaining sub-tropical wilderness in the continental United States and has extensive fresh and saltwater areas, open Everglades prairies, and mangrove forests. Abundant wildlife includes rare and colorful birds, and this is the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles exist side by side. The park is 1,506,539 acres (606,688 hectares) in size. It is a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve, and a Wetland of International Significance," according to the following website: http://nps.gov/ever
1. Alden, Peter, Rich Cech, and Gil Nelson. 1998. National Audubon Society Field Guide to Florida. New York: Knopf.
Within the state of Florida there are dozens of individualized, non-profit organizations making an effort to help the local wildlife. The local land and marine wildlife includes birds, geckos, frogs, snakes, panthers, manatees, sea turtles, fishes, sharks, corals, lizards and many, many more. Florida State is located on the Southeastern tip of the United States providing a unique opportunity for conservation of salt-water animals. While there are animal conservation efforts taking place all over the world, this essay will focus on two animal species that humans are specifically trying to save in Florida State. The two main animal species of focus are manatees and sea turtles.
Maintaining ecological diversity is necessary for the survival of a biological community. In the United States, American citizens are on the verge of irrevocably damaging one of the country's most unique and diverse treasures - the Florida Everglades. This national park is now the only remaining patch of a river that used to span 120 miles from Lake Okeechobee to the Florida Bay. Dikes and levees created by the Army Corps of Engineers in the late 1940's drained this river to reduce flooding and increase useable water for the development of the region. This major diversion of water lead to a trickle down effect causing the continual decline of the environmental state of the Everglades. Since then, debates over the Everglades' future have silently raged on for years about how, why, and when the restoration will begin. This ongoing, but virtually unproductive effort has cost taxpayers a great deal without any apparent benefits. Recently, this debate has been amplified by the voices of the sugar industry in Florida, which was attacked for its major contribution to pollution of the Everglades. Now debates rage on with a new effort called the Restudy. Backed by the Army Corps of Engineers, this effort would change the flow of the Everglades, potentially restoring it into the viable community of life that it used to be. The question now is, will this latest attempt to restore the Everglades ever be realized (thus ending the cyclic Everglades debate) or will it simply add up to one more notch on the bedpost of inadequate and failed attempts to save this national treasure. The world is watching to see how the United States will handle this unprecedented cleanup.
The water supply of Florida is important for a number of reasons. But it is crucial because it not only helped develop human society but it is also continually sustaining it. There are a number of phases and processes that take place to make this happen.
The Florida Everglades is one of the most diverse wetland ecosystems in the United States. These tropical wetlands span an area of more than seven hundred square miles in southern Florida. The term Everglade means river of grass. The system starts in central Florida near Orlando and travels southwest to the tip of Florida. The Everglades has a wet season and a dry season which causes a great change in hydrology. During the wet season the system is a slow moving river that is sixty miles wide and over a hundred miles long. During the dry season water levels drop and some areas will completely dry up. The Everglades has many different aquatic environments all having interdependent ecosystems. The most important factor for all these environments is water. It helps shape the land, vegetation, and all the organism that live in each area. Each environment has particular needs for the organisms living in that area. Throughout the years humans have diverted the water to fit their varying needs. The state has built dikes and levees, dug canals, and have built locks to divert the water. This has all been done to keep areas completely dry for developing and agricultural needs. Today, The Everglades is half the size of its original size. Throughout the years many restoration acts have been created and updated. The Everglades restoration projects have been the most expensive environmental repairs in The United States. This is because The Everglades is one of the three most important wetland areas in the world. The Everglades National Park is the home of thirty six protected species including the West Indian Manatee, the American Crocodile, and the Florida Panther. The Everglades also homes hundreds of species of birds, fish, mammals, and repti...
By conserving the ecosystem, the animal population will incline. Recent reports of record duck numbers throughout much of their continent-wide breeding range is proof that to manage wildlife you need to manage their ecosystems. Wet weather, combined with abundant nesting cover provided by the federal Conservation Reserve Program, has shown that wetland and grassland ecosystems are what make or break duck populations. The same is true for all other species, game and non-game. R. Holmes.
...he preservation of these precious ecosystems so that future generations can appreciate the serenity and value of the wetlands.