Highlights
Everglades National Park was created in 1947 to protect the southern end of the Everglades ecosystem, a wildlife-rich wilderness threatened by the growth of the human population of South Florida. Although most of the 1.5 million-acre park is remote and difficult to explore, it contains extensive hiking paths, boardwalks and canoe trails. Among the most famous is the Anhinga Trail, a boardwalk from which it's possible to look down at the struggle for food and life among alligators, wading birds, turtles and snakes. A 15-mile paved loop at Shark Valley allows people to walk, bicycle or ride a tram through the heart of the sawgrass marsh, with the chance to see alligators, deer and wading birds...
Everglades National Park was created in 1947 to protect the southern end of the Everglades ecosystem, a wildlife-rich wilderness threatened by the growth of the human population of South Florida. Although most of the 1.5 million-acre park is remote and difficult to explore, it contains extensive hiking paths, boardwalks and canoe trails. Among the most famous is the Anhinga Trail, a boardwalk from which it's possible to look down at the struggle for food and life among alligators, wading birds, turtles and snakes. A 15-mile paved loop at Shark Valley allows people to walk, bicycle or ride a tram through the heart of the sawgrass marsh, with the chance to see alligators, deer and wading birds.
The park's beauties are subtler than the glaciers, mountain ranges, grizzly bears and buffalo herds of some of the showier national parks. The park incorporates a wide variety of habitats, the sawgrass marshes of the classic Everglades, mangroves shorelines, marl prairie, hardwood hammock and pinelands. The park also encompasses Florida Bay. Along the southern coast of the park live American crocodiles, part of the only population in the United States. The park's creation marked a milestone in the history of American conservation. For the first time, according to the National Park Service, "a large tract of wilderness was permanently protected not for its scenic value, but for the benefit of the unique diversity of life it sustained."
Among the species found at the park are the alligator, smooth-billed ani, manatee, Florida panther, American white pelican, roseate spoonbill and wood stork. Extending to the very tip of the Florida peninsula, the park occupies portions of Collier, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. The only highway through the park is State Road 9336. The park receives more than 1 million visitors a year. The park faces several threats. A row of rock mines blasts and digs for limestone on its eastern border. Several non-native species have taken hold in the park, including a breeding population of Burmese pythons. The park's managers are working on a plan to stop boat propellers from tearing up seagrass on the floor of shallow Florida Bay, a delicate issue that risks angering people who fish in the bay. And most important, the historic flow of water into the park from the north has been disrupted. The land encompassed by the park forms the southern end of an ecosystem that was once dominated by the slow flow of shallow water from Lake Okeechobee. An elaborate drainage and water-supply system constructed gradually over the past century has altered the flow of water, flooding some areas and parching others.
The federal government has established several programs to restore the park and the larger ecosystem that surrounds it. A key element involves ripping out levees to increase the flow of fresh water into the park. Among the issues to be determined is whether to raise several miles of Tamiami Trail to allow water and wildlife to pass underneath.
The park's beauties are subtler than the glaciers, mountain ranges, grizzly bears and buffalo herds of some of the showier national parks. The park incorporates a wide variety of habitats, the sawgrass marshes of the classic Everglades, mangroves shorelines, marl prairie, hardwood hammock and pinelands. The park also encompasses Florida Bay. Along the southern coast of the park live American crocodiles, part of the only population in the United States. The park's creation marked a milestone in the history of American conservation. For the first time, according to the National Park Service, "a large tract of wilderness was permanently protected not for its scenic value, but for the benefit of the unique diversity of life it sustained."
Among the species found at the park are the alligator, smooth-billed ani, manatee, Florida panther, American white pelican, roseate spoonbill and wood stork. Extending to the very tip of the Florida peninsula, the park occupies portions of Collier, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. The only highway through the park is State Road 9336. The park receives more than 1 million visitors a year. The park faces several threats. A row of rock mines blasts and digs for limestone on its eastern border. Several non-native species have taken hold in the park, including a breeding population of Burmese pythons. The park's managers are working on a plan to stop boat propellers from tearing up seagrass on the floor of shallow Florida Bay, a delicate issue that risks angering people who fish in the bay. And most important, the historic flow of water into the park from the north has been disrupted. The land encompassed by the park forms the southern end of an ecosystem that was once dominated by the slow flow of shallow water from Lake Okeechobee. An elaborate drainage and water-supply system constructed gradually over the past century has altered the flow of water, flooding some areas and parching others.
The federal government has established several programs to restore the park and the larger ecosystem that surrounds it. A key element involves ripping out levees to increase the flow of fresh water into the park. Among the issues to be determined is whether to raise several miles of Tamiami Trail to allow water and wildlife to pass underneath.
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State cross country meet fact box
The facts •WHAT: State cross country meet •WHEN: Saturday Class 2A girls, 7:30 a.m. Class 3A girls, 7:55 a.m. Class 2A boys, 8:20 a.m. Class 3A boys, 8:45 a.m. Class 4A girls, 9:05 a.m. Class 1A girls, 9:30 a.m. Class 4A boys, 9:55... -
Peter Matthiessen wins National Book Award fiction prize for 'Shadow Country'
AP National WriterNEW YORK (AP) _ The economy hung like a cloud over the 59th annual National Book Awards. Barack Obama was the silver lining. "It's a good time to be alive," announced author, Obama fan and fiction committee chair Gail Godwin, as she gracefully pulled out...Tags: Heads of State, Sales, Awards and Prizes, Books and Magazines, Eric Bogosian
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FOOTBALL
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Broward high school results and schedules
Staff reportsWith the score 2-2 the Pine Crest boys caught a break when an errant pass was knocked into the goal by a North Broward Prep defender. It was the second own goal of the game by the Jaguars, helping the Panthers win 3-2 in a District 13-3A matchup. Avery...Tags: Diseases, Meteorological Disasters, Basketball, Hurricanes, Soccer
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real
Cardinal Gibbons Soccer Fundraiser In an effort to raise money for their upcomming seasons, both the boys' and girls' soccer teams at CGHS will be selling poinsettias until Nov. 21. The plants, which average 8 to 12 red flowers, are $18 and can be picked...Tags: Dining and Drinking, Colleges and Universities, Bars and Clubs
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National Book Awards winners to be announced
The Associated PressThe publishing industry will attempt a break from the bad news of the marketplace and cheer for literature at the 59th annual National Book Awards. Nominees Wednesday night in four competitive categories include award-winning novelists Peter...Tags: Eric Bogosian, Family, Books and Magazines
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Winners of 59th annual National Book Awards announced Wednesday night
AP National WriterNEW YORK (AP) _ The publishing industry will attempt a break from the bad news of the marketplace and cheer for literature at the 59th annual National Book Awards. Nominees Wednesday night in four competitive categories include award-winning novelists...Tags: Eric Bogosian, Family
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Atwater, in first speech, says government has grown too big
Palm Beach Politics - Sun-Sentinel BlogsIn his first speech as Senate president, Jeff Atwater gave a nod to Florida???s historic cash crunch, but nonetheless laid out an ambitious agenda he hopes to accomplish during his two years. Atwater, R-Palm Beach Gardens, said he would convene......Tags: Heads of State, Government, National Government, Local Authority, Rudyard Kipling
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Yahoo co-founder to step down as CEO
Yahoo Inc. co-founder Jerry Yang is stepping down as chief executive, ending a rocky 17-month reign marked by his refusal to sell the Internet company to Microsoft Corp. for $47.5 billion -- more than triple Yahoo's current market value. The change in...Tags: Internet, Sunnyvale, Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft Corp., Stock Broking
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Sand and Service Hours
Everglades HighStudents from Student Government Association, Environmental Club and Crime Watch from Everglades High will be participating in a beach cleanup on Nov. 22 at John U. Lloyd State Park. Deerfield Beach is also having a beach cleanup. The public is invited,... -
Financial advisers raise questions about U.S. Sugar deal
South Florida Sun-SentinelThe state's bid to buy out U.S. Sugar Corp. and make way for Everglades restoration was $400 million too high from the start, according to the findings of outside financial advisers released Tuesday. Gov. Charlie Crist in June announced a $1.75 billion...Tags: National Government, Government, South Florida Water Management District, Charlie Crist, Lake Okeechobee
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Thousands of Florida softshell turtles end up on dinner plates in Asia
South Florida Sun-SentinelHauled from canals and marshes around Lake Okeechobee, turtles arrive in the late afternoon at Jones Fish House, a corrugated metal structure on the Palm Beach County side of the lake. A truck sent by Tamarac seafood broker Wan To Ho pulls up every few...Tags: Natural Resources, Seafood and Fishing Industry, Nature, Dining and Drinking, Natural Science
Nov 20, 2008
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