Appendix E

Convention concerning the Protection of the

World Cultural and Natural Heritage

WORLD HERITAGE LIST

Nomination submitted by the United States of America

Everglades National Park

CC-70/WS/33

PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT         16

 

 

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Everglades National Park to the World Heritage List

The documents and other material listed below which have been received from the United States of America in support of the above-mentioned nomination can be examined in the Division of Cultural Heritage at Unesco and will be available for consultation at the meetings of the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee and of the Committee itself :

1. Topographical Map, Everglades National Park.

2. Map indicating boundaries of Park.

3. Map showing principal vegetation types in Park.

4. Statement for Management, Everglades National Park.

                    5. Series of photographs.

I. LOCATION

1. Country--United States of America State-Florida

   C. Name of Property-Everglades National Park

    D. Exact location on map

Everglades National Park 3-ies m the southern tip of the Florida peninsula, approximately between the following longitudes and latitudes: 80'20' West longitude and 8r3O' West longitude, and 24° 50' North latitude and 25° 55' North latitude.

II. JURIDICAL Status

    A. Owner-United States Government, Department of the Interior in Washington D.C.

     B. Legal Status

Everglades National Park was authorized by an act of Congress in Cray of 1934. But not until 1944 did President Harry Truman finally designate the area. The 1934 Act has perhaps the strongest preservation mandate of any established national park in U.S. The act states that; "the said area or areas shall be permanently reserved as a wilderness, and no development of the project or plan for the environment of visitors shall be undertaken which wi.11 interfere with the preservation intact of the unique flora and fauna and the essential primitive natural conditions now prevailing in this area.'

Of the total land mass nearly all Ls in Federal ownership. As of December 1976 all in-holdings within the park had either been acquired or were pending condemnation proceedings. Outstanding mineral, oil and gas rights still apply to 26,397 ha. of Federal lands within the park, and have not yet been acquired.

National Park Service employees have legal authority, both state and federal, to enforce regulations within the park. The approximately 200 people residing within the area are directly related to providing essential services, either as federal employees or as staff of the park concessioner. A 124 acre site along the park's-northern boundary is retained by the Miccosukee Indians for community development purposes under the terms of a special-use permit. Direct access to the park is provided to the general public by a state road system linking all four districts. Water craft access is also provided through a system of marked and patrolled waterways.

C. Responsible Administration

Administered for the National Park Service, United States Department of the interior by: General Superintendent, Everglades National Park, P. 0. Box 279, Homestead, Florida 33030.

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III. IDENTIFICATION

1. Description and inventory of Natural Heritage

Few of the classic elements of a national park are embodied in the Everglades. Instead, it is a land of subtleties. Notably lacking are the impressive geologic features that give relief. to eye and landscape, and that so often have dominion over living systems. Here, the earth blends indistinctly with the water and the evanescent sky. Their uniform appearance belies a diversity of life forms characteristic of few other places on this continent.

Unlike most of its counterparts in the National Park System, Everglades is almost exclusively a biological park dedicated to the preservation of a complex and precisely ordered living mechanism. It is a place of cannon, though often ill-defined, boundaries. It lies at the interface between temperate and sub-tropical America; between land, sea, and sky; between fresh and brackish water; between shallow, terrestrially influenced embayments and deeper gulf coastal waters; between the sprawl of urban development and wilderness; and between pre-Columbian and modern human cultures.

While other landscapes were forged in a crucible of fire and ice, Everglades is the offspring of a primal alliance of earth and the cradling sea. Its subdued topography is indicative of geologic stability. The wealth of plant life it supports provides virtually the only variation in its otherwise broad, featureless surface. From the wave-stroked beaches of Cape Sable to the nearly imperceptible currents sweeping over Shark Valley, the cyclic ebb and flow of water and miniscule variations in the landscape are of signal importance in determining the nature of this park. ironically, fire, often considered the bane of field and forest, is the necessary third element.

The park is actually a shallow basin tilted to the southwest and underlain by extensive deposits of Pleistocene-aged limestone. The Miami limestone consists of a oolotic and bryozoan facies with the latter predominant in the basement rock of the park. Interestingly, these two components of the geologic foundations of the park are of inorganic and organic origin respectively. Schizoporella floridana, a multi-laminate bryozoan, is largely responsible for the production of that portion of the Miami limestone underlying the park. Mile peninsular Florida is geologically young, it is among the more stable portions of the continent, having undergone no significant structural change for many years.

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Geographically the Everglades are temperate, but biologically they are strikingly similar to the subtropical West Indies... having attracted hundreds of colonial forms. Many of the plant and animal species found in the park are at the limits of their ranges. The biota has great variety, and an ironic mixture of rare and abundant life forms. Complexity, diversity, high numbers of species, and low entropy, generally indicators of environmental stability further characterize the Everglades.

Several factors are significant determinants of the vegetative composition of the park. Naturally caused fires, or the lack of them, slight elevations or depressions in topography, and water are critical factors. Water is perhaps the most important factor. Everglades is an area which often receives in excess of 60 inches of precipitation annually, and which has from prehistoric time received periodic overflows from Lake Okeechobee and its watershed to the north. The nature of the substrate has, in turn, had important effects on the water regime in the park. The ordinarily highly porous limestone is overlain with variable thicknesses of marl and peat which minimize water loss through seepage. other elements altering the vegetative composition of the park include inland penetration of sea water as a result of lowered water tables and canalization, hurricanes, and the proliferation of exotic species such as Australian pine and wild tamarind.

The great floral variety of the Everglades is one of the key reasons for the establishment of the park. Among the more prominent and colorful plants are the Bromeliads and epiphytic orchids. As many as 25 orchid varieties are known to occur within the park. There are over 1,000 kinds of seed-bearing plants, and nearly 120 species of trees, both tropical (palm, gumbo-limbo, mangroves) and temperate (ash, mulberry, and oaks). Even plants ordinarily associated with the hot and deserts, such as cactus, yucca, agave or century plant, thrive in certain parts of the park. Woody and herbaceous vines, including the noxious and cosmopolitan poison ivy, are significant elements in the forest understory. Over 60 species encountered here are endemic to South Florida. As the only large, totally preserved area in Florida, Everglades National Park may wel1 be the ultimate refuge.

Within the park there are five discrete vegetative types. Hammocks are tree islands that are generally composed of mature mixed hardwoods. Bayheads are tree islands generally consisting of isolated stands of specific species, such as cypress or willow. Pinelands, consisting predominantly of a relict stand of south Florida slash pine, occupy elevated outcroppings of the Miami limestone. The coastal mangrove area, composed largely of black, red, or white mangrove or mixtures thereof, is one of the largest mangrove forests in the world. Sawgrass, actually a sedge, covers extensive lowland prairies to the north and east.

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Hammocks, bayheads, and pineland areas are generally elevated or otherwise vary sufficiently from the datum plane to be insulated from the effects of flooding and protected from fire. Bayheads, consisting predominantly of one or two species, occupy either slight elevations or depressions (e.g, bay trees generally predominate in elevated deposits of peat and cypress trees in shallow ponds). Mangrove and sawgrass areas are periodically or perennially inundated by shallow water.

In addition to the terrestrial systems, there are at least four distinctively different aquatic community types within the park: The inland fresh water areas consisting of broad, shallow grassy rivers, small scattered ponds, and alligator holes; the brackish water or estuarine areas where fresh and salt water merge; shallow shoreline and offshore embayments; and, the deeper gulf coastal waters. As might be expected, fresh water and marine fishes and invertebrates abound in these -areas. In addition, the area of transition from glade to mangrove-fresh to salt water-is an incredibly rich and productive zone incubating great numbers of life forms, including the economically important pink shrimp, stone crab and spiny lobster.

Florida Bay includes some 2,000 square kilometers of very shallow embayment overlaying unconsolidated calcareous sediment on the surface of the oolitic facies of the Miami limestone. Its maximum depth varies from 8 to 9 feet and its average depth is 4 to 5 feet. The bottom is irregular, consisting of anastomosing mudbanks on some of which mangroves and other brackish water plants have pioneered to for small keys of islands. The waters of the bay are considered one of the most productive natural limestone factories in the United States.

Everglades is a haven for over 36 rare or endangered animals. The most notable mammals include the Florida panther (Felis concolor coryi) and the manatee-(Trichechus manatus latirostris). In North America, the later is essentially endemic to the park and dependent upon it for survival as a species. Of the 60 known species of reptiles, the American alligator (Alligator mississipiensis) has received world-wide notoriety as a species threatened with extinction. Through such attention, the alligator has returned from the brink of disaster and can be held as a rare example of successful human intervention in the preservation of a species. Faced with restrictive and highly sensitive habitat. Requirements, the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) cannot be viewed with such aplomb. Just 300-400 individuals exist in a natural state on the North American continent all within or near Everglades National Park.

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Everglades is probably best known for its varied and kaleidoscopic seasonal displays of birdlife. Over 300 species of birds have ' been recorded within the park, seven of which are rare or endangered species. One of the chief reasons for the establishment of the park was growing concern that rookeries of he--ors, ibis, and '6 other wading birds be protected from the decimating effects of commercial exploitation, encroaching development, pollution, and other deleterious human influences. Although habitat changes have reduced historic numbers, tens of thousands of birds feed and nest within the Everglades, provide a veritable smorgasbord of sight and sound for the viewer.

The intermingling of species and the tendency to greater numbers and varieties of life forms at the shared boundaries of coterminus communities -- a phenomenon known as the edge effect-is well illustrated in the Everglades. Species that one could ordinarily not expect to find sharing the same habitat are commonly observed together. Oddly, there are also some fascinating analogies between biological phenomena in the Everglades and in the southwestern deserts, the sub-alpine timberline, and the subterranean world. Living conditions in each of those systems frequently require more diverse and often bizarre morpholgical and physiological adaptations of plant and animal species.

The State of Florida lists the following species in an category: .Atlantic Green Turtle (Chelonia mvdas mydas), Atlantic Ridley (Lepidochelys kempi), Wood Stork (Mycteria americana), Cuban Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus tenuirostris), Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Cantpephiliis principalis), Florida Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarlrn floridanus), mangrove Fox Squixrel (sciurus niger avicennia). And on the threatened list: Rivulus (Rivulus marmoratus), Gopher Turtle (Gopherus Folyphemus), Atlantic Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta caretta), Miami black-headed Snake (Tantilla oolitica), Eastern Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis), Rothschild's Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens rothschild), Florida Great White Heron

Present and Proposed Use of the Property --- In keeping with the strict tenor of the 1934 Act authorizing Everglades, the development of visitor facilities has progressed according to a concept of preserving the parks essential wilderness qualities and keeping developmental encroachments to a minimum. Currently about 0.1% of the park can be considered developed, with roads or other visitor facilities. Because existing development is providing adequate visitor services, there is no apparent need to change its overall pattern or a program of massive expansion. Completing and refining previously proposed developments is the objective.

Existing developments provide the essential visitor services, and support park administration and maintenance functions. Visitor developments include: visitor centers, nature trails, camping and picnic areas, motel, restaurant, marina, small stores, primitive hiking and camp areas. Most park staff renters commute from the local community although some are housed in small residential areas within the park. The administration and maintenance areas are within the park.

Management philosophy espouses limited development in the park, but the nature of the resources imposes limitations as well. Harsh, conditions of sub-tropical. heat, storms, insects, impassible terrain, and rough marine waters often render extensive and traditional recreational activities uncomfortable if not impossible.

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Size and Buffer Zones --Everglades National Park comprises 567,017 ha. of the southern tip of the Florida peninsula. It is the third largest national park in the U. S. national park system.

The legal boundaries of Everglades National Park do not totally encompass tie watershed areas essential for its integrity as a. complete system. Three separate watershed sources lyirg outside park boundaries are in varying stages of preservation and control. Big Cypress National Preserve, on the north west boundary, is now 60% in federal ownership and will protect water sources for that portion of the park. A vast series of water conservation areas, protected by the state of Florida, are flow sources of the primary Shark River Slough watershed. A third buffer zone on the park's east boundary is important for the Taylor Slough watershed. The Taylor Slough area is a smaller watershed, but nonetheless critical, for on it is the Anhinga Trail, Trade famous nationwide for its spectacular seasonal wildlife displays. Currently in private ownersh3.p, this area will cane under state control as an area of critical state concern.

A series of area designated preservation zones by Metropolitan Dade County, protect the park's east boundary from encroaching urbanization. Developments, which could jeopardize the viable functioning of the Everglades ecosystem would be precluded from these areas.

B. Maps and/or Plans (attached) (xx)

C. Photographic Documentation (included) (xx)

D. History

Although south Florida was one of the first parts of the North American mainland-discovered by Europeans, their history as residents scarcely reached back to 1800. The Spanish and other early explorers found the Indians untameable and the country difficult, and did little more than sail along its shore. Wreckers and pirates plied their trades from stations in the Florida Keys. Exept these transient activities, history up to the time of the Seminole Wars is chiefly contained in tales of shipwrecks on the Florida Reef and in the journals of castaways thrown upon the none-to-tender mercies of the Calusa Indians. The transfers of Florida from Spain to Britain to Spain to the United States had little meaning in a region which lay outside the effective sovereignty of any government.

In the early 1820's Commodore Porter conducted his expedition against piracy in southern waters and the construction of the

xx see attached note

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Cape Florida Light marked the beginning of  U.S. efforts to reduce the hazards of navigation along the Florida Reef. With these tokens of the existence of government, care the start' of permanent settlement', mainly along the Florida Keys, a 120 mile stretch of small mangrove islands. Indian Key became the first south Florida town of importance (aside from Key West), and the seat of local administration. Audubon visited Indian Key and Cape Sable in 1835 and many prominent naturalists found their way onto the region in the later 1800's and early 1900's. Dr. Perrine settled at Indian Key and carried on his experiments in tropical horticulture until killed by Indians in 1840.

The Seminole Wars flared intermittently for more than a generation. From a historical standpoint the Indian war period was notable because towns persisted near scan of the former forts and because pursuit of the Indians brought the first important penetrations of the Everglades by non-Indians and the first seeds of the idea of draining the Everglades. The Civil War largely bypassed South Florida. Union forces occupied Key West and there was some activity by blockade runners, but only at Fort Jefferson in the Tortugas did South Florida close to the main stream of American history.

The later history of white man in south Florida is essentially a history of transportation and communication. Before the arrival of roads and railroads, there was only a scattering of isolated coastal settlements with a largely maritime economy. Present day Miami sprang into existence with the coming of the railroad in 1896, and throughout south Florida non-Indian occupation followed the advance of roads and railroads along the coasts and of roads and canals into the Everglades. As late as the mid-1920's the completion of the Tamiami Trai1 first permitted easy land access between the east and west coast of southern Florida.

The park's creation was the culmination of many efforts over many years. The Audubon Society began protective measures in the early part of the century by posting wardens at plume-bird rookeries. Just how ruthless the plume hunters had become was demonstrated by the 1905 murder of one of the Society's wardens, Guy Bradley, at his Everglades post.

Other efforts followed. In 1916 the Florida Federation of Women's Clubs helped establish and maintain the Royal Palm State Park, protecting Paradise Key on the edge of Taylor Slough. In 1929, the state of Florida created the Tropical Everglades National Park Commission, headed by Ernest F. Coe. The commission was not entirely successful; it was given a purpose of acquiring land, bit no money with which to do it.

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Then in 1934 the U. S. Congress passed a bill authorizing a mark in the Everglades. The maximum boundaries envisioned for this park would have included much of the Big Cypress Swamp and Key Largo, including the coral reef now within John D. Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. But still no funds were authorized with which to purchase land. Eventually, efforts by conservationists paid off. Spurred by the state government post-World War 11 allocation of land and $2 million for the purchase of privately owned land within mark boundaries, -many people cam forward to donate land. At last the park became reality. The year 1947 was a landmark year. That was the year that Everglades National Park was established, dedicated by President Harry S. Truman in Everglades City.

In the early years of the twentieth century, Florida's governor, Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, activated an idea that had tantalized generations of Floridians. The theory was that, since water runs downhill, a few canals could be dug, the water drained off the Everglades, and land for cities and farms would be created. So in 1909, the state's Everglades Drainage District completed the Miami Canal connecting Lake Okeechobee to the Miami River and the sea. Other canals soon followed.

Land south of Lake Okeechobee did become available for farming. But two hurricanes, one in 1926 and the other in 1928, swept Okeechobee waters over the low dike that had been built around it, and thousands died in the resulting floods. The tragedies led to the involvement of the federal government, and in 1930 the Army Corps of Engineers built a much larger Hoover Dike around the lake.

Drainage and canal-building went on, but the dream of new land became instead a nightmare of problem. Without its usual protective layer of water, the organic soil of the Everglades oxidized away. Fires burned out of control, smoldering in the organic peat now parched by drought. Salt water entered the Biscayne Aquifer, foiling water wells in Miami. Finally the ecological significance of the Everglades and its effect on all of South Florida began to dawn on its citizens.

A hurricane in 1947 that brought flood waters into the streets of Dade County was the catalyst which stirred action to impose order on the water-management chaos, and 1949 saw the establishment of the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District. The District and its successor, the South Florida Water Management District, set about to prevent flooding during the rainy season, drain additional farmland, and maintain the freshwater pressure head on the Biscayne Aquifer to prevent salt water from getting =to that water-holding rock formation.

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U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, through  

Far from evoking a scenario of environmental doom and despair, the raison d’etre of Everglades National Park is to assure perpetuation of this altered, but still remarkably intact biological system. What, at one time may have been a Sisyphean endeavor, is now at least, an endeavor of cautious optimism.

Everglades National Park has been involved in research and resource management since its nascent years. Only recently has research been given prominence and the support it deserved to allow it to became the logical predecessor of resource management. in what is now a park system-wide model, the research program at Everglades is designed to investigate and monitor the natural resources and process of geographically integrated ecosystem and to apply knowledge of that ecosystem in making recommendations for optimal environmental management.

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Resource management objectives fit hand-in-glove with those of research. Vis-a-vis research recommendations, resource management develops programs to preserve the park's native terrestrial and aquatic resource, and, to the extent possible, restore habitat diversity and associated plant and animal communities.

In an effort to detail current preservation efforts a synoptic view of research and resource management is provided. By major heading the research program 2ncludes: hydrology, wildlife ecology, marine ecology, and plant ecology.

Hydrology -- Hydrology is the research linch-pin of the Everglades system. All life within the Everglades is subject to the ebb and flow of water. The hydrology program is designated to identify specific problems which are of high priority with respect to park needs. For example, in auction to planning strategy for assuring sufficient water quantity to the park, agreements that establish water quality standards have been reached. They assure that delivery waters will not degrade as they are metered into the Park.

The long term goal of the hydrology program is to maintain and restore South Florida hydro-biological systems. Proposed projects will require from 3-5 years for completion. Three major responsibilities are assigned to the hydrology programs. 1.) Under management: water quality standards have been set to assure water deliveries of sufficient purity to prevent ecological damage or deterioration of the park's environment. Tools are now being developed to enable proper management decisions regarding water delivery schedules through the man-made structures. Because of the fluid nature of water and downstream location of the park, surrounding water control projects of other agencies and municipalities can and do have adverse impacts. Many of these projects have been reviewed for their possible effects on the Everglades. 2.) The monitoring responsibility entails routine sampling of water quality, water level information, and flow rates. New experimental tools are used to increase the park data base; these include measuring rainfall through use of radar and monitoring by satellite to provide a broad view of wetlands. 3.) Research, the last major responsibility, will analyze hydro-records through the use of innovative computer modeling techniques study major park watershed. This will give park managers a sound technical base thereby enabling them to influence water management decisions that might threaten park interests.

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Wildlife--Abundant and diverse wildlife populations are a major reason for the existence of Everglades National Park, and the principal cause for its popularity. Wildlife is therefore a critical consideration in park management. The overall objective of the wildlife program is to provide information and recommend management options that will permit the perpetuation of wildlife populations as part of their naturally functioning ecosystems. The program encompasses several distinct activities: surveys, monitoring and research. These activities all provide the necessary information for an ecosystem approach to wildlife management.

The overall objective of the wildlife survey project is to provide a system for assessing and monitoring populations and providing recommendations for management of species listed by the state and federal government as rare or endangered. Water birds such as the colorful roseate spoonbill and other herons are monitored as well as the popular American alligator and American crocodile. Fresh water fish, a critical element in the food chain, are also studied to determine how they are affected by man induced water fluctuations.

Marine--Marine resources in Everglades National Park are subjected to a number of stresses, both direct (fishery harvest), and indirect (watershed alteration). The marine research program seeks information to determine the condition of the resources and the effects of human activity upon them, and to develop proper strategies to reduce impact. The program consists of a study of estuarine ecology, development of a coastal oceanographic monitoring system, and two fishery studies regarding stone crabs and spiny lobsters.

Vegetation -- The Plant Ecology Program aims at documenting what changes have occurred and are occurring in the flora of protected areas of South Florida. It is also concerned with providing information essential to preservation and restoration of native vegetation, through enlightened management of fire, water, invading exotic species, and visitor use. The basic objectives of the Plant Ecology Program are: supply information to enhance survival of all plant species, particularly those considered rare, threatened, or endangered. In addition, require information critical to fire management and to other habitat manipulation which would affect vegetation. This included information pertinent to decisions concerning how frequently, at what time of year, and under what prescriptions to carry out prescribed burning; under what conditions natural (lightning) and man--caused fires should be allowed to burn or be suppressed; and, balancing the need for fuel reduction to reduce threats from fire to hardwood hammocks or private property against negative biological impacts. Floristic

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changes may be used to predict changes throughout the ecosystem. This fact is important in making water management decisions. In the area of assessing exotic species, data regarding their ecological impact needs to be considered. Vegetation research can be of assistance in establishing programs for the park visitor. Information needs to he evaluated concerning the development of facilities and assessing visitor use patterns which affect vegetation and flora. And, interpretive programs are needed to enhance visitor appreciation of the remarkable flora and vegetation of South Florida park areas. This can lead to increased public support for preservation of the park, without hastening the demise of the flora by illegal. collecting.

Resource Management--Controlled burning was pioneered as a management tool at Everglades. Fire has been successfully reintroduced as an essential element in perpetuating a native ecosystem. Through vegetation research, resource management is making some headway in the complex battle of restoring former agricultural lands within the park to a semblance of natural conditions. These same disturbed lands and agricultural areas adjacent to the park boundaries have become seed sources for numerous and insidious exotic plant species. An ongoing campaign has for the most part controlled the spread of exotic within the park. A last major responsibility is to assure a sustained yield, through regulation of the commercial and sport fishing harvest.

D. Means for Preservation/Conservation

Everglades National Park is legally established as a conservation unit per an act of Congress. The technical means for preservation have been discussed under IV A. Everglades National Park is one in a system of over 300 areas administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Everglades National Park receives a budget allotment of approximately five million dollars (U.S.) annually. This amount is considered adequate to fulfill the mandate for which the area was established.

E. Management Plans

The following is a listing of local and regional plans having iml3.cations for Everglades National Park:

1. Draft Master Plan - July 1977

Seeks to place Everglades in a regional context, identifies critical planning components, discusses future developments, and resource management programs, purposes a land classification scheme, discusses interpretive and educational themes as w-U as land acquisition needs.

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2. Final Environmental Statement on the Wilderness Designation – July 1978

Details environmental impacts, adverse impacts, and discusses alternatives to the wilderness designation.

3. Wilderness Recommendation-August 1974

Proposes wilderness designation for 92.7% of Everglades National Park and the strict, preservationist management that such a designation entails. The wilderness Proposal was passed by Congress in 1978.

4. Comprehensive Development Master Plan for Metropolitan Dade Countv Florida--June 1974

A three part series of plans building the growth and development of Metropolitan Dade County. Part II, the Environmental Protection Guide outlines the effects of different types of urban developments and designates areas that should be conserved and protected, including critical buffer areas for Everglades National Park.

5. Statement for Management--Everglades National Park, 1977  

The working document which states current management philosophy.

V. JUSTIFICATION FOR INCLUSION ON THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST

Marjory Stoneman Douglas in her book The Everglades: River of Grass, describes the Everglades. "They are, they have always been, one of the unique regions of the earth, remote, never wholly known. Nothing anywhere else is like than: their vast glittering openness, wider than the enormous visible round of the horizon, the racing free saltness and sweetness of their massive winds, under the dazzling blue heights of space. They are unique in the simplicity, the diversity, the related harmony of the fox of life they enclose. The miracle of the light pours over the grassland brown expanse of sawgrass and of water, shining and slow moving below, the grass and water that is the meaning and the central fact of the Everglades of Florida. It is a "River of Grass."

There is a paucity of poetic utterances about the Everglades. Perhaps, because the Everglades are mysterious (though mystery often excites the imagination) their fundamental nature is often not understood. Perhaps creative lyricists were hindered by the lack of spectacular beauty. Its beauty is not spectacular; it is subtle. The real beauty of the Everglades is of another kind, appealing to what Darwin called "the eye of the mind."

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The Everglades is an outstanding example of a subtropical biome where temperate North America meets tropical America. Here complex biological processes occur basically unhindered. From basic algal associations through progressively higher species and ultimately to such primary predators as the panther and alligator, the food chain is superbly evident and unbroken.

As a haven for rare and endangered species the Everglades has few rivals with over 30 species protected within its borders. The largest number of breeding pairs of the American bald eagle (the symbol of the United States) on the east coast of North America are found here. Here the once endangered alligator fulfills its timeless and quintessential role as the keeper of the Everglades, as it provides water hole oases of life during harsh dry periods. Here the crocodile still maintains a tentative hold on survival its numbers severely reduced through loss of habitat elsewhere. Multi-spectral color and sound displays are daily routine as roseate spoonbills, glossy ibis, snowy egrets, great white herons, and hundreds of other bird species go about their purposeful aerial peregrinations. The old-time sailor's seductive siren, the manatee plys convoluted estuarine channels, at last protected from the torment and dangers of boat propellers. And, the last viable east coast Population of panthers still are able to satisfy their appetites in a protected habitat that encompasses hundreds of square kilometers.

Rather than show the world a classic case of environmental mismanagement, the Everglades can depict a model of a struggling, but basically harmonious co-existence between a unique natural system and urban man. There are few places on the planet that can show this so well.

SIGNED ON BEHALF STATE PARTY

 

______________________________

Deputy Assistant Secretary for - Fish

     and Wildlife and Parks

                                                                                                   United States Department of the Interior

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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Tilden, Frearen. The National Parks, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. New York, N.Y. 1978.

DeGolia, Jack. Everglades: The Story Behind the Scenery, K. C. Publications, Las Vegas, Nevada, 1978.

George, Jean Craighead. Everqlades Wildguide, Office of Publications, U. S. Department of the Interior, 

        Washington,   D.C. 1972.

Robertson, William B. Everglades-The Park Story, University of Miami Press, Coral Gables, Florida, 1959.

Robinson, George R. A Prospectus for the Interpretation of Everglades National Park, Unpublished paper, Everglades   

        National Park, Homestead, Florida.

Carr, Archie and the Editors of Time-Life Books, The Everglades, Time Life Books, New York, N. Y., 1973

Tebeau, Charlton W. Man in the Everglades, University of Miami Press. Coral Gables, Florida, 1968.

Hoffmeister, John Edward. Land From the Sea, University of Miami Press, Coral Gables, Florida, 1974.

Beard, Daniel B. Everglades National Park Project, Unpublished report, National Park Service Washington, D.C. 

        1938.

Caufield, Patricia, Everglades, Sierra Club, San Francisco, California, 1970.

Everhart, William C. The National Park Service, Praeger Publishers, New York, N.Y., 1972.

Gore, Rick, "Florida, Noah’s Ark for Exotic Newcomers,' National Geographic Washington, D.C., 1976.

Gore, Rich, "Twilight Hope for Big Cypress." National Geographic, Washington, D.C. 1976.

Carter, Luther J. The Florida Experience, Published for Resources for the Future, Inc. John Hopkins University Press, 

        Baltimore, Md. 1974.

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Craighead, Frank C. The Trees of South Florida, Vol.. I: The Natural Environments and Their Succession, University of

         Miami Press, Coral Gables, Florida, 1971.

Craighead, Frank C. Orchids and Other Air Plants of the Everglades National Park, University of Miami Press, Coral 

        Gables, Florida, 1963.

Dasman, Raymond F. No Further Retreat-The Fight to Save Florida, Macmillan Company, 1971.

Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank K. C. Publications for use of certain portions of their book, The Everglades, the Story Behind the Scenery. Copyright 1978.