Never Say nEverglades

Humans used to be encircled by nature,

Now nature is encircled by humans....

Yesterday (see Blog Jan. 28) we were at the north end of the severly damaged south Florida ecosystem, at Lake Okeechobee. Today we drove to the far south end, at Flamingo in the Everglades National Park. "Bittersweet" is too weak a word for the experience. Approaching the Park you pass through more hundreds of square miles of farm fields. Not sugar cane this time but tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, papaya, beans and watermelon. We northeners will gladly be buying them in a couple of months back home. But just as with sugar cane, these massive fields all survive on water pumped from the shallow flow that had fed the Everglades for many thousands of years. Only the fractional amount still engineered into the glades keeps it from drying up and disappearing forever.

The Everglades is not in-your-face like Niagara Falls, or the Grand Canyon, or the Canadian Rockies. You must actually think about what you're seeing in front of you ---- a river of grass, a shallow sheet of water that has supported animals and native peoples for longer than recorded history. An inch higher elevation, or an inch more of water, changes the ecosystem dramatically. The area has survived hurricanes, windswept fires, drought, floods, and invasive species. The question today is whether it can survive the onslaught and demands of more and more people.

It is shocking that the current "restoration and recovery" plan on display includes building dozens of motel-like accomodation buildings --- and all the permanent infrastructure that goes with that. What next, a landing strip for private jets and a Starbucks?

This was the last major daytrip in our January in Miami Beach, and had the most impact. The Everglades are unique, amazingly diverse in plants and animals (separate blog), and on life support ---- still there, but the plug is slowly being pulled. Staggering beauty or more despair?