Saving The Everglades

What's New

The lush mangrove and sawgrass marshes of South Florida are the last of a great wilderness that, until the 20th century, stretched for hundreds of miles. Our Everglades shelter countless species, including endangered Florida panthers, Cape Sable seaside sparrows and American crocodiles.

But this natural wonder is besieged. Sixty years of encroaching development have disrupted natural water flows, harmed wildlife with pollution run-off and destroyed more than half of the Everglades' unique, species-rich wetlands.

Environment Florida is urging Miami-Dade and Broward County Commissioners to protect the Everglades by blocking proposals from big developers and land speculators to move our Urban Development Boundary further west into the Everglades — a move that would roll back more than 20 years of protection for the Everglades.

Take action

Big developers and land speculators are pushing to build Everglades Corporate Park, a sprawling hotel and office facility, right at the foot of the aquifer that feeds South Florida's Everglades. Send an email to Sunrise City Commissioners urging them to stop development in Everglades wetlands.

Background

Like the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River, the Everglades is a cherished part of the American landscape. Over time, however, this unique ecosystem has experienced the negative effects of human development: loss of wetlands, disrupted timing and flows of water, deterioration of water quality, reductions in wading birds and other species, declining lake and estuary health, and loss of native habitat to exotic species.

The Promise of Protection

In the 1980s, Miami-Dade County planners created the Urban Development Boundary to stop development that would disrupt natural water flows, harm wildlife with pollution run-off and destroy the Everglades' unique, species-rich wetlands. The intention was to direct development in a way protects the Everglades and other areas that are vital for agriculture and natural habitat, that help to replenish our drinking water supply, and help control floods during major hurricanes.

A recent deal between the state of Florida and US Sugar to purchase vast areas of land near Lake Okeechobee for Everglades restoration is a potentially big step forward. But other proposals would put the Everglades at risk. Lowe's Corporation, the major home improvement retailer, proposed to build a big box store that would cross the boundary that protects wetlands bordering the Everglades. Even worse, in 2008, Lennar Corp. advanced another project that would pave wetlands outside the development boundary to make way for a new subdivision of more than 6,000 new homes. In Broward, developers are pushing to build a corporate and industrial park on top of a water conservation area.

Holding the Line on Everglades Protection

Miami-Dade and Broward Commissioners can stop these new proposals by maintaining the Urban Development Boundary. But in order to stand up to developers, they need to hear from us.

Environment Florida is mobilizing Floridians on the streets, at their doors, through the media, and the over the internet to urge our commissioners to “hold the line” on development in the Everglades.