Highlights
Everglades National Park was created in 1947 to protect the southern end of the Everglades ecosystem, a wildlife-rich wilderness threatened by the growth of the human population of South Florida. Although most of the 1.5 million-acre park is remote and difficult to explore, it contains extensive hiking paths, boardwalks and canoe trails. Among the most famous is the Anhinga Trail, a boardwalk from which it's possible to look down at the struggle for food and life among alligators, wading birds, turtles and snakes. A 15-mile paved loop at Shark Valley allows people to walk, bicycle or ride a tram through the heart of the sawgrass marsh, with the chance to see alligators, deer and wading birds...
Everglades National Park was created in 1947 to protect the southern end of the Everglades ecosystem, a wildlife-rich wilderness threatened by the growth of the human population of South Florida. Although most of the 1.5 million-acre park is remote and difficult to explore, it contains extensive hiking paths, boardwalks and canoe trails. Among the most famous is the Anhinga Trail, a boardwalk from which it's possible to look down at the struggle for food and life among alligators, wading birds, turtles and snakes. A 15-mile paved loop at Shark Valley allows people to walk, bicycle or ride a tram through the heart of the sawgrass marsh, with the chance to see alligators, deer and wading birds.
The park's beauties are subtler than the glaciers, mountain ranges, grizzly bears and buffalo herds of some of the showier national parks. The park incorporates a wide variety of habitats, the sawgrass marshes of the classic Everglades, mangroves shorelines, marl prairie, hardwood hammock and pinelands. The park also encompasses Florida Bay. Along the southern coast of the park live American crocodiles, part of the only population in the United States. The park's creation marked a milestone in the history of American conservation. For the first time, according to the National Park Service, "a large tract of wilderness was permanently protected not for its scenic value, but for the benefit of the unique diversity of life it sustained."
Among the species found at the park are the alligator, smooth-billed ani, manatee, Florida panther, American white pelican, roseate spoonbill and wood stork. Extending to the very tip of the Florida peninsula, the park occupies portions of Collier, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. The only highway through the park is State Road 9336. The park receives more than 1 million visitors a year. The park faces several threats. A row of rock mines blasts and digs for limestone on its eastern border. Several non-native species have taken hold in the park, including a breeding population of Burmese pythons. The park's managers are working on a plan to stop boat propellers from tearing up seagrass on the floor of shallow Florida Bay, a delicate issue that risks angering people who fish in the bay. And most important, the historic flow of water into the park from the north has been disrupted. The land encompassed by the park forms the southern end of an ecosystem that was once dominated by the slow flow of shallow water from Lake Okeechobee. An elaborate drainage and water-supply system constructed gradually over the past century has altered the flow of water, flooding some areas and parching others.
The federal government has established several programs to restore the park and the larger ecosystem that surrounds it. A key element involves ripping out levees to increase the flow of fresh water into the park. Among the issues to be determined is whether to raise several miles of Tamiami Trail to allow water and wildlife to pass underneath.
The park's beauties are subtler than the glaciers, mountain ranges, grizzly bears and buffalo herds of some of the showier national parks. The park incorporates a wide variety of habitats, the sawgrass marshes of the classic Everglades, mangroves shorelines, marl prairie, hardwood hammock and pinelands. The park also encompasses Florida Bay. Along the southern coast of the park live American crocodiles, part of the only population in the United States. The park's creation marked a milestone in the history of American conservation. For the first time, according to the National Park Service, "a large tract of wilderness was permanently protected not for its scenic value, but for the benefit of the unique diversity of life it sustained."
Among the species found at the park are the alligator, smooth-billed ani, manatee, Florida panther, American white pelican, roseate spoonbill and wood stork. Extending to the very tip of the Florida peninsula, the park occupies portions of Collier, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. The only highway through the park is State Road 9336. The park receives more than 1 million visitors a year. The park faces several threats. A row of rock mines blasts and digs for limestone on its eastern border. Several non-native species have taken hold in the park, including a breeding population of Burmese pythons. The park's managers are working on a plan to stop boat propellers from tearing up seagrass on the floor of shallow Florida Bay, a delicate issue that risks angering people who fish in the bay. And most important, the historic flow of water into the park from the north has been disrupted. The land encompassed by the park forms the southern end of an ecosystem that was once dominated by the slow flow of shallow water from Lake Okeechobee. An elaborate drainage and water-supply system constructed gradually over the past century has altered the flow of water, flooding some areas and parching others.
The federal government has established several programs to restore the park and the larger ecosystem that surrounds it. A key element involves ripping out levees to increase the flow of fresh water into the park. Among the issues to be determined is whether to raise several miles of Tamiami Trail to allow water and wildlife to pass underneath.
Displaying items 1-12 of 871
» View baltimoresun.com items only
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11-73
•
Next >
-
Punishments to fit the politicians' crimes
I enjoyed the letter "A punishment that fits the crime: Sentence Schurick to register African-American voters." Tailoring punishment to fit crimes is exactly what good judges do. Here are some additional suggestions: Sentence Democratic congressman...Tags: Sheila Dixon, Wetlands, Walmart, Jon Corzine, Punishment
-
Arnold teenager explores the world — and her own backyard
One of Lauren Morrell's earliest memories involves a family hike and a candy wrapper, which explains why the 16-year-old from Arnold is now the student representative to the Severn Riverkeeper group and why, the day she turned 15, she applied to become...Tags: American Idol (tv program), Executive Branch, Sailing, National Aquarium Baltimore, Environmental Pollution
-
Columbia's nature center is a front door to suburban landscape
Where do bats live? What do spiders eat? How old is the forest?
The answers to those and many other questions can be found at the James and Anne Robinson Nature Center, a $17.6 million educational facility that opened this month in Columbia.
With two...Tags: Ken Ulman, Chesapeake Bay, James Rouse, Science, Homestead
-
Wolf Trap becomes all about the 'Over Glow'
I love watching rehearsals, whether they be for dance concerts, dinner theater shows, neighborhood musicals or —during these early summer days — marching drum and bugle corps performances. Recent weeks have brought me the opportunity to sample...Tags: Gardens and Parks, Dance, Woods (music group), Dancing, Tourism and Leisure
-
Commodore Mayo: A man of adventure and tragedy
He was a famed seaman — a prodigy who won a congressional medal at 18, fought in three wars and ended up commanding the 44-gun USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides," as it tracked slave ships off the coast of Africa.
The reputation of Commodore Isaac...Tags: Bodies of Water, Cruises, Africa, Rivers, United States Naval Academy
-
Blackwater refuge celebrates eagles this weekend
Special To The SunWhile zipping through the Eastern Shore city of Cambridge on the way to the ocean, most folks have no idea that just to the south are tidal marshes so scenic and vast that they have been dubbed the "Everglades of Maryland." Indeed, southern Dorchester...Tags: Bodies of Water, Wildlife, Minority Groups, Dining and Drinking, Wetlands
-
Football returns to Baltimore
Baltimoresun.com StaffFor a city that had waited patiently for more than a decade for the return of pro football, for so many whose last memory of the NFL in Baltimore was of watching their beloved Colts roll out of town under the cover of darkness, 1996 was a very good year...Tags: St. Louis Rams, U.S. Military, Mel Gibson, Cleveland Browns, Brett Favre
-
Enigmatic partners pursue a rich deal
Sun National StaffSecond of two parts HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - Donald Trump thought it couldn't be done. He'd exercised all his usual charms to land a casino development deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida - hiring lobbyists, wheedling politicians, indulging tribal leaders...Tags: Criminals, Minority Groups, Public Employees, Arts, Online Media Industry
-
A developer bets on Florida fortune
Sun StaffHOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- The peaks and depths of James E. Billie's life are evident in the hardened creases of his nine fingers. He wielded astonishing power during his 22 years as chief of the Seminole Tribe of Florida -- nose-diving in the tribe's private...Tags: Bodies of Water, Lawyers, Minority Groups, Electronics, Wetlands
-
Visit museums for free on Saturday and Sunday
South Florida Sun-SentinelIt's the first full weekend of the month on Saturday and Sunday, which means you can visit for free one of 8 South Florida museums with an ID and a Bank of American credit or debit card. This month, the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort...Tags: Celebration, Palm Beach (Palm Beach, Florida), Libraries, Arts, West Palm Beach
-
Mercy for Mack's Fish Camp burglar whose accomplice died
A Broward judge showed mercy Friday on a Pembroke Pines teenager who pleaded no contest to a third-degree murder charge in the death of his accomplice in the burglary of an Everglades business on the last morning of 2010. Michael Stone, 18, was charged...
Tags: Pembroke Pines, Laws, Criminal Laws, Trials, Punishment
-
May rains boost South Florida water supplies
South Florida's flood-or-famine water supply received welcome relief from steady May rains that kicked off an early start to the summer rainy season. What had been a drier-than-normal, winter-to-spring dry season was capped with well-above-normal May...
Tags: Broward County, Conservation, Weather Reports, Water Supply, Palm Beach (Palm Beach, Florida)
Dec 21, 2011
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Oct 1, 2011
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Sep 15, 2011
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Jul 8, 2011
|Story| Baltimore Sun
May 14, 2011
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Mar 10, 2005
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Aug 1, 2005
|Story| Baltimoresun.com
Mar 15, 2004
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Mar 14, 2004
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Jun 2, 2012
|Story| South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Jun 1, 2012
|Story| South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Jun 1, 2012
|Story| South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Original site for Everglades topic gallery.
