S Florida, USA; swampy, subtropical region, length c.160 km/100 mi, width 80120 km/5075 mi, area c.12 950 km²/5000 sq mi; covers most of the Florida peninsula S of L Okeechobee; consists of saw grass savannahs and water dotted by clumps of reeds; in an area of heavy rainfall only a few metres above sea-level; drainage and reclamation schemes have made a large amount of land productive, mostly in citrus fruits and sugar; Seminole Indians fled to the area in 1842, during the Seminole War; Everglades National Park (area 5668 km²/2188 sq mi) in the S includes much of Florida Bay, with its many keys; a world heritage site.
The Florida Everglades are subtropical marshlands located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, specifically in parts of Monroe, Collier, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, and Broward counties. Although much modified by agricultural development in central and southern Florida, the Everglades is the southern half of a large watershed arising in the vicinity of Orlando known as the Kissimmee River system. Water leaving Lake Okeechobee in the wet season forms the Everglades, a shallow, slow-moving flood at one time 40 miles wide and over 100 miles long moving southward across a nearly flat, limestone shelf to Florida Bay at the southern end of the state.
Overview
The Everglades extends from Lake Okeechobee on the north to Florida Bay on the south and was once bordered by Big Cypress Swamp on the west and the Atlantic Coastal Ridge on the east.
Some 50 percent of the original Everglades has been lost to agriculture. Water from the Everglades is still used as a water supply for major cities in the area, such as Miami. The Everglades is crossed from west to east by a toll road called "Alligator Alley", now part of Interstate 75.
There are several small outlets, such as the Miami River and the New River on the east and the Shark River on the southwest.
Everglades National Park
Everglades National Park preserves the southern portion of the Everglades (all south of Tamiami Trail), but represents only 27.3% of the original area. There have been recent expansions to the park's tourist facilities to bring in more money to Florida's economy such as a massive extension to the visiting center, many outposts along the bridges that span the Everglades that teach people about the many birds and other wildlife native to the Everglades and also a small petting zoo.
History
Exploration
For much of its history, systematic exploration of the Everglades was prevented by the dense growth of saw-grass (Cladium jamaicense), a sedge with very sharp saw-toothed leaves. Between 1841 and 1856 various United States military forces penetrated the Everglades for the purpose of attacking and driving out the Seminoles, who took refuge here.
In 1850 under the Arkansas Bill, or Swamp and Overflow Act, practically all of the Everglades, which the state had been urging the federal government to drain and reclaim, were turned over to the state for that purpose, with the provision that all proceeds from such lands be applied to their reclamation. Between 1881 and 1896 a private company owning 4,000,000 acres (16,000 km²) of the Everglades attempted to dig a canal from Lake Okeechobee through Lake Hicpochee and along the Caloosahatchee River to the Gulf of Mexico;
The small area reclaimed prior to that year (1905) was found very fertile and particularly adapted to raising sugar cane, oranges and garden vegetables. Truman's executive order later that year to protect more than 2 million acres (8,000km²) as Everglades National Park.
The strength of Mrs. Douglas' name was such that when legislation designed by lawyers representing the sugar growers' industry proposed to suspend all water quality standards in the Everglades for twelve years, it was named the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Act—until the 103-year old author demanded that her name be removed from the pending bill.
A settlement agreement between the federal government and the State of Florida, and approved by Judge William Hoeveler, imposed a plan to reduce damaging phosphorus levels in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and Everglades National Park by December 31, 2006. Additionally, in 2004 the State of Florida adopted a 10 parts per billion numeric criteria for phosphurus within the Everglades Protection Area, which is comprised of the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Everglades National Park, and Water Conservation Areas 2 and 3. Although the vast majority of the Everglades Protection Area currently meets water quality standards, approximately 10% of the area remain severely impacted. The State of Florida and the Army Corps of Engineers are undertaking various projects costing billions of dollars under the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan to help ensure the proper quantity, quality, timing and distribution of waters to the Everglades and all of South Florida. Numerous lawsuits affecting Everglades restoration are pending before the courts
Non-native/Invasive species
The Everglades also face an ongoing threat from the melaleuca tree (Melaleuca quinquenervia). Sprinkled from airplanes using salt and pepper shakers, the tiny seeds of the thirsty tree were intended to suck up the water and make the "land" of the Everglades suitable for development.
Brazilian Pepper (Florida Holly) has also wreaked havoc on the Everglades, exhibiting a tendency to spread rapidly and crowd out native species. The Brazilian Pepper problem is not exclusive to the Everglades;
Native to southern Asia, the Burmese python, Python molurus bivittatus is a relatively new invasive species in the Everlgades. The Everglades habitat is perfect for bivittatus, and this species is said to be reproducing rapidly.
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