The harmful side effects of dredging and draining were
apparent early in this century. In 1928 landscape architect Ernest Coe
began a concentrated effort to designate a "Tropical Everglades
National Park." His persistence paid off when he and others persuaded
Congress to designate the Everglades as a national park in 1934. It
took park supporters another 13 years to acquire land and secure funding.
In 1947, Marjory Stoneman Douglas would publish The Everglades: River
of Grass, a work that would come to greatly influence the public perception
of the oft-misunderstood region. That same year, Everglades National
Park officially opened, marking the first large-scale attempt to protect
the area's unique biology. Today, the park comprises a vast wetland
wilderness unlike any other in the world.
Despite these efforts, degradation of the ecosystem
continued. Burgeoning land development and speculation schemes in the
1960s led to the partial draining of the Big Cypress swamp. Gradually
scientists and the public came to realize that the Big Cypress watershed
was the key to the survival of the Everglades and the integrity of the
entire South Florida ecosystem. In 1968 plans to create a jetport at
the swamp’s eastern edge sparked a movement to authorize a national
preserve. The establishment of Big Cypress National Preserve in 1974
signaled an important compromise between pro-development and pro-conservation
groups. Today the preserve protects the natural, scenic, and hydrologic
resources of the area, while providing recreational opportunities not
normally found in a unit of the national park system.
Similarly, development pressures during the 1950s and
1960s threatened the Biscayne Bay area. Plans for a major industrial
seaport on the shoreline, a causeway to the upper keys, and resort communities
jeopardized the relative tranquillity of the bay’s barrier islands
and the surrounding water. By the early 1960s the debate over the preservation
of South Biscayne Bay versus the development of resort communities drew
wide public attention. After a long political battle, concern for the
scenic and ecological values of the area led to the creation of Biscayne
National Monument in 1968. Support for the protection of coastal resources
continued, leading to the expansion of the monument and its redesignation
as a national park in 1980.
National Park Service conservation of marine resources
in south Florida began when Fort Jefferson National Monument was established
in 1935 to include the surrounding water, submerged land, and a series
of keys. In 1992 it was redesignated Dry Tortugas National Park and
its purposes expanded. The park now protects significant nesting areas
for seabirds, habitat for endangered and threatened sea turtles, and
sensitive portions of the Florida Keys coral reef ecosystem.
The creation of these national park system units has
underscored both the need for and the public interest in preserving
south Florida ecosystem resources. The presence of numerous national
wildlife refuges and marine sanctuaries as well as state, local, and
private protected areas are also evidence of this support. Yet, even
though much of the region has been set aside, the ecosystem remains
threatened. Combating nutrient-rich (nitrate-contaminated) water, interrupted
hydrology, decreased water supply, exotic plants, and mercury contamination
cannot be done successfully at the park level alone. Instead, combined
and integrated efforts at the federal, state, county, and local levels
are necessary.
