Florida's Everglades

Whatever scenic excitement you might anticipate from one of the country's more celebrated natural areas - whether you arrive west from Miami or south from Fort Myers, seventy miles along US-41 from either direction - there's nothing to herald your arrival in the Everglades .

The most dramatic sights are small pockets of trees poking above a completely flat sawgrass plain, yet these wide-open spaces resonate with life, forming part of an ever-changing ecosystem, evolved through a unique combination of climate, vegetation and wildlife.

Appearing as flat as a table-top, the oolitic limestone on which the Everglades stand actually tilts very slightly towards the southwest. For thousands of years, water from summer storms and the overflow of nearby Lake Okeechobee has moved slowly through the Everglades towards the coast. The water replenishes the sawgrass, growing on a thin layer of soil formed by decaying vegetation, and gives birth to the algae at the foot of a complex food chain that sustains much larger creatures, most importantly alligators . After the floodwaters have reached the sea, drained through the bedrock or simply evaporated, the Everglades are barren except for the water accumulated in ponds - or "gator holes" - created when an alligator senses water and clears the soil covering it with its tail. Besides nourishing the alligator, the pond provides a home for other wildlife until the summer rains return. Sawgrass covers much of the Everglades, but where natural indentations in the limestone fill with soil, fertile tree islands - or " hammocks " - appear, just high enough to stand above the floodwaters.

Several Native American tribes once lived hunter-gatherer existences in the Everglades. The shell mounds they built can still be seen in sections of the park. In the nineteenth century, the Seminoles, fleeing white settlers from the north, also lived peaceably in the area. By the late 1800s, a few towns had sprung up, peopled by settlers who, unlike the Indians, looked to exploit the land. As Florida's population grew, the damage caused by hunting, road building and draining for farmland gave rise to a significant conservation lobby. In 1947, a section of the Everglades was declared a national park, but unrestrained commercial use of nearby areas continues to upset the Everglades' natural cycle. The 1500 miles of canals built to divert the flow of water away from the Everglades and toward the state's expanding cities, the poisoning caused by agricultural chemicals from local farmlands, and the broader changes wrought by global warming could yet turn Florida's greatest natural asset into a wasteland.

Environment The activities of tourists can exacerbate the environmental problems in this fragile area. Airboat tours are synonymous with the Everglades, however, and many of the operators who tout rides along Hwy-41 are more concerned with profit than preservation; visitors are advised to seek out ranger-led trips instead. The shortage of clean water is also a problem; much of it from the area is siphoned away to quench the thirst of urban areas such as Miami. Visitors therefore are requested to do all that they can to preserve water, such as not taking unnecessary baths or showers.