The Florida Everglades National Park is the second largest national park in the lower 48 states, and the largest freshwater marshland in the world (10). It is home to more than 600 kinds of animals, and 900 plant species that dwell in a variety of habitats, including mangrove forests, a dry pineland ridge, shallow sloughs that carry fresh water through the park, and several types of tree islands (13:12). While hunting in the park has all but ceased because of the efforts of the park rangers, the park and its residents are now in danger from the effects of pollution from nearby vegetable farms, sugarcane plantations and real estate development. This paper will look at factors contributing to the pollution of the everglades and what is being done to combat the problem and restore the park to its original state.
The Everglades National Park in Florida was authorized by Congress in 1934 and established in June, 1947 (11). The authorization act allowed for a maximum of 2,000,000 acres for the park, which immediately became a wildlife refuge so that it could be given organized protection. The state of Florida initially gave 850,000 acres to the United States, and three months later, a park of 407,000 acres was established. Florida also gave the federal government $2,000,000 for acquisition of additional land within the park and beyond its boundaries (11). The present boundaries of the park were fixed in 1960, but the federal government is moving to expand the park by 109,000 acres by the turn of the century (18).
Unabated farm growth eventually consumed more than 700,000 acres of the Everglades. By the 1970s, the Everglades had shrunk to less than half its original size and dozens of animals native to the area were listed as endangered or threatened (6). The population of wading birds - a symbol of healthy marshland - had plummeted to 18,500 from the 265,000 storks, herons and egrets that lived there at the turn of the cent...