The greater Everglades ecosystem encompasses 1/3 of the State of Florida, historically encompassing nearly 9 million acres from its headwaters near Orlando, through the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes and River, into Lake Okeechobee, and down to Florida Bay and the Florida Keys.
More than 100 years of digging canals and building levees to drain the swamp and manage flooding for agriculture and development have drained natural wetlands and destroyed the flow of this River of Grass. Today, less than half of the original 3 million acres of the Everglades south of Lake Okeechobee remain.
What We Do
- Support the progression of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, a decades-long, multibillion dollar restoration effort passed by Congress in 2000
- Contribute a Gulf coast perspective to Everglades restoration planning
- Educate our members and community about the role the Everglades play in determining local water conditions
- Provide science-based public comment on restoration projects and management decisions
