SAVE AMERICA'S EVERGLADES

Dear All:

Help save America's Everglades by urging Congress to authorize key parts of a massive, ongoing Everglades restoration effort. Each of the 68 project components of the Everglades restoration must be authorized by Congress through the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). To help the imperiled Everglades this year, the WRDA must be put on the Senate's agenda so that two key projects can be approved. (The House has already passed its version of the bill.)

Once a healthy eight-million acre river of grass, the Everglades has been reduced to half of its original size by agriculture, urban sprawl, and unwise water management. The remaining globally-unique wetlands of the Everglades are home to rare panthers, wading birds, and vast expanses of sawgrass. To reverse the damage done by the extensive "re-plumbing" of the Everglades, the federal government and state of Florida are undertaking a $7.8 billion dollar restoration effort, the most ambitious environmental restoration project ever attempted.

»» TAKE ACTION: Learn more and urge your senators to quickly approve the Everglades restoration projects.

The restoration of the Everglades has made huge strides in the past few years. With your support, we can see it to completion and bring this amazing place back to full health. Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

Debbie Harrison
Director, South Florida Program
World Wildlife Fund
Debbie.Harrison@wwfus.org

[Debbie Harrison has led efforts to restore South Florida's wilderness for more than 20 years.]

LEARN MORE

The WRDA currently pending in Congress would authorize two critically important Everglades restoration projects: the Indian River Lagoon at the northern tip of the Everglades ecosystem and the Picayune Strand Restoration in the southwest section of the ecosystem. These two projects are essential to "getting the water right" and restoring this remarkable natural system.

The Indian River Lagoon project will restore natural sheet flow to the Everglades ecosystem by redirecting water to the Everglades instead of out to the ocean, providing reservoirs for storage of water in the wet season and release in the dry season, building stormwater treatment facilities to improve the water quality of the water flowing through the Everglades ecosystem, and removing millions of cubic yards of muck from the St. Lucie Estuary. The project will restore 90,000 acres of wetlands, significantly enhancing the health of the system.

The Picayune Strand restoration will reestablish the natural sheet flow to the Ten Thousand Islands, restore 72,000 acres of habitat, and restore ecological connectivity of the Florida Panthers National Wildlife Refuge, the Belle Meade State Conservation and Recreation Lands Project Area, and the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve.

Learn more about restoration of the Everglades.

World Wildlife Fund's scientists have identified the Florida Keys and Everglades as part of the Earth's 200 most valuable ecoregions -- places where the planet's biological wealth is most distinctive and rich, and where we must fight hardest for its conservation. You can explore the wonders of wild South Florida, read about the threats that face this irreplaceable region, and learn about the hard work WWF and its partners are doing to ensure that the Florida Keys and Everglades are restored and protected for current and future generations.