Protecting and Preserving Our National Parks: The Everglades National Park Restoration Project
By Richard J. Ansson, Jr.
INTRODUCTION
During a recent visit to Everglades National Park, I noticed an alligator lying motionless in the dark and murky water, blinking occasionally at the bright sun burning down on the Everglades. Then there were ripples of movement. A large turtle swam to shore and stretched its neck, full of curiosity. Birds were singing, brightly colored insects were glued together in an effort to reproduce, swarms of mosquitoes were everywhere, and an ibis was standing quietly on one leg, observing the whole scene. To a visitor, Everglades National Park represents a perfect picture of natural wilderness. However, casual visitors are unaware that the Everglades is slowly dying as years of water mismanagement have sent the Everglades ecosystem into a state of shock.
Home to millions of birds, the Everglades ecosystem stretches from the Kissimmee River to Florida Bay, where for centuries its waters have nourished a stunning wealth of fish, lobsters, shrimp, bass, catfish, alligators, and numerous other animals. Today, however, the Everglades face a multitude of problems:
[D]isrupted water flow, increased water pollution, a 90-percent decline in the wading bird population, invasion of exotic plant and animal species, shrinking habitat for the Florida panther, wood stork, Cape Sable seaside sparrow, manatee, and other creatures facing extinction along with the effects of encroaching growth and development. Prior to the inception of the water control systems, meadows and swamps served as reservoirs for water trickling slowly southwards from the Kissimmee River and Lake Okeechobee. Rainy and dry seasons closely regulated the rise and fall of water levels in ponds and creeks, bringing to the region's vibrant animal world just the right amount of water needed for mating, raising young, and feeding. However, over the last fifty years, the water control systems which have provided water for agricultural uses and the cities of southern Florida have disturbed the balance of the Everglades' ecosystem.
Recently, the federal government announced a comprehensive and expensive environmental protection plan that it hopes will rebalance the Everglades' ecosystem. After months of debate, the White House, members of Congress, the State of Florida, the National Parks Service, and the U.S. Corps of Engineers have developed an $11 billion plan which will attempt to protect and restore the Everglades ecosystem. The plan, which was forwarded to Congress on July 1, 1999, for its approval, includes: removing numerous dams, canals, and highways; creating new reservoirs and computer controlled dams outside Everglades National Park to recreate original flow patterns in the Everglades; and controlling pollutants from agricultural waste through the installation of aquifers and filters.
Many of our national parks have strikingly similar ecosystem management problems strikingly similar to Everglades National Park. Indeed, many of our parks' ecosystems are vulnerable to development around and within their respective parks' boundaries. If the park service plans to protect and preserve our national parks, then it should protect our parks' ecosystems by adopting ecosystem management strategies similar to the one currently being proposed for Everglades National Park. Ecosystemmanagement of this nature will protect our parks, and it will also prevent our parks from falling into dire states of disrepair. This article urges the National Park Service (NPS) to employ some level of ecosystem management at all of our national parks.
Section II tersely examines the guiding principles of the National Park Service and discusses the numerous problems threatening the environmental integrity of our national parks. Section III details the history of the Everglades' ecosystem and addresses the problems that are currently confronting the park and its surrounding ecosystem. Section IV reviews the Everglades' ecosystem restoration plan and explores how the Park Service could use similar ecosystem management plans to protect other national parks. Section V concludes by encouraging the Park Service to employ some level of ecosystem management at all of our national parks.
During a recent visit to Everglades National Park, I noticed an alligator lying motionless in the dark and murky water, blinking occasionally at the bright sun burning down on the Everglades. Then there were ripples of movement. A large turtle swam to shore and stretched its neck, full of curiosity. Birds were singing, brightly colored insects were glued together in an effort to reproduce, swarms of mosquitoes were everywhere, and an ibis was standing quietly on one leg, observing the whole scene. To a visitor, Everglades National Park represents a perfect picture of natural wilderness. However, casual visitors are unaware that the Everglades is slowly dying as years of water mismanagement have sent the Everglades ecosystem into a state of shock.
Home to millions of birds, the Everglades ecosystem stretches from the Kissimmee River to Florida Bay, where for centuries its waters have nourished a stunning wealth of fish, lobsters, shrimp, bass, catfish, alligators, and numerous other animals. Today, however, the Everglades face a multitude of problems:
[D]isrupted water flow, increased water pollution, a 90-percent decline in the wading bird population, invasion of exotic plant and animal species, shrinking habitat for the Florida panther, wood stork, Cape Sable seaside sparrow, manatee, and other creatures facing extinction along with the effects of encroaching growth and development. Prior to the inception of the water control systems, meadows and swamps served as reservoirs for water trickling slowly southwards from the Kissimmee River and Lake Okeechobee. Rainy and dry seasons closely regulated the rise and fall of water levels in ponds and creeks, bringing to the region's vibrant animal world just the right amount of water needed for mating, raising young, and feeding. However, over the last fifty years, the water control systems which have provided water for agricultural uses and the cities of southern Florida have disturbed the balance of the Everglades' ecosystem.
Recently, the federal government announced a comprehensive and expensive environmental protection plan that it hopes will rebalance the Everglades' ecosystem. After months of debate, the White House, members of Congress, the State of Florida, the National Parks Service, and the U.S. Corps of Engineers have developed an $11 billion plan which will attempt to protect and restore the Everglades ecosystem. The plan, which was forwarded to Congress on July 1, 1999, for its approval, includes: removing numerous dams, canals, and highways; creating new reservoirs and computer controlled dams outside Everglades National Park to recreate original flow patterns in the Everglades; and controlling pollutants from agricultural waste through the installation of aquifers and filters.
Many of our national parks have strikingly similar ecosystem management problems strikingly similar to Everglades National Park. Indeed, many of our parks' ecosystems are vulnerable to development around and within their respective parks' boundaries. If the park service plans to protect and preserve our national parks, then it should protect our parks' ecosystems by adopting ecosystem management strategies similar to the one currently being proposed for Everglades National Park. Ecosystemmanagement of this nature will protect our parks, and it will also prevent our parks from falling into dire states of disrepair. This article urges the National Park Service (NPS) to employ some level of ecosystem management at all of our national parks.
Section II tersely examines the guiding principles of the National Park Service and discusses the numerous problems threatening the environmental integrity of our national parks. Section III details the history of the Everglades' ecosystem and addresses the problems that are currently confronting the park and its surrounding ecosystem. Section IV reviews the Everglades' ecosystem restoration plan and explores how the Park Service could use similar ecosystem management plans to protect other national parks. Section V concludes by encouraging the Park Service to employ some level of ecosystem management at all of our national parks.
