Allie Preston, Author at Friends of the Everglades

WATCH NOW — A WIN for state parks in Tallahassee

https://youtu.be/e4PmMBgalVk?si=Ln4nc9WaycGhVEAP From Florida's state capitol, Friends of the Everglades executive director Eve Samples brings you your Voice of the Everglades update: Every now and then, the good guys score a win in Tallahassee. That’s exactly what happened last Tuesday, when a bill to protect state parks from harmful development was amended to close a couple of gaping loopholes. Friends of the Everglades and our allies have been working hard to ensure the threats we saw last summer – golf courses, hotel-like lodges, pickleball courts – don’t reemerge in our cherished state parks. State Rep. John Snyder, the lead sponsor in the House, listened to our concerns and responded with an amendment to HB 209 that gets the job done. [...]

Allie Preston2025-04-11T16:19:43-04:00April 14th, 2025|Florida Legislative Tracker, Florida Legislature, Save Florida's State Parks, Voice of the Everglades|

2025 Marjory Stoneman Douglas Legacy Celebration Highlights

Thank you for joining us at the 4th Annual Marjory Stoneman Douglas Legacy Celebration at the historic Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables! Your presence helped make the day a truly inspiring tribute to Marjory’s life’s work — and a powerful reminder of our shared responsibility to protect the Everglades. The day featured moving remarks from Clyde Butcher and his daughter, Jackie Obendorf, and honored Richard Grosso for his decades of legal work defending Florida’s wild spaces — including a surprise proclamation from Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. We are so grateful to all who joined us. Your support helps carry Marjory’s vision forward. Being surrounded by so many passionate advocates was incredibly uplifting. Take a look at some [...]

Allie Preston2025-04-09T14:14:40-04:00April 9th, 2025|Marjory Stoneman Douglas Legacy Celebration|

Register now for a LIVE mid-session report with Friends of the Everglades!

Allie Preston2025-04-07T14:50:44-04:00April 7th, 2025|Florida Legislative Tracker, Florida Legislature, Friends of the Everglades LIVE|

Florida Sportsman calls on the state of Florida to BUY THE LAND for Everglades restoration

Florida Sportsman has been a household name since its first publication in 1969. The magazine now joins Friends of the Everglades in the effort to Rescue the River of Grass — and breaks down the reasons you should, too, in its latest issue. 🐊The plan is simple: Buy land south of Lake Okeechobee to store and clean water before it’s sent south to the Everglades. ⏰ Why now? Amendment 1 generates over $1 billion a year from real estate sales for public land purchase and will continue to do so for the next 10 years. 💭 It’s not a new idea: We’ve always known that more land south of Lake Okeechobee is key to Everglades restoration. Florida Sportsman championed [...]

Allie Preston2025-04-04T06:18:27-04:00April 7th, 2025|All Posts, Rescue the River of Grass|

Your moment of Everglades zen: Baby birds mark the arrival of spring at Wakodahatchee Wetlands

Wakodahatchee Wetlands bursts with new life Each year, the spring equinox brings new life and longer days. I first noticed signs of spring while driving to the Friends of the Everglades office in early March. The bright yellow blooms of tabebuia trees light up Ocean Boulevard in Stuart. This year, cold fronts extending deep into March offered crisp mornings and breezy evenings worthy of longer walks and outdoor dinners. Without a doubt, my favorite part of spring is an annual visit to Wakodahatchee Wetlands, where dozens of bird nests burst with new life. South Florida nature photographers and nature lovers flock to the [...]

Allie Preston2025-03-31T14:07:13-04:00April 1st, 2025|All Posts, Everglades Zen|

Your voices were heard — damaging Lake Okeechobee discharges are ending March 29

Finally some good news! After almost four months of damaging Lake Okeechobee discharges, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has just announced they will close the gates to the St. Lucie and scale flows to the Caloosahatchee back to 1,400 cubic feet per second — within the beneficial range — on Saturday, March 29. Note that remaining flows going west are necessary to maintain optimal salinity. These discharges began back on December 7 under the premise of “Lake Okeechobee recovery,” with no guarantee they’d improve the health of the lake — while our estuaries paid the price. Thanks to nearly 3,000 of you who joined us in sending messages to Col. Brandon Bowman, the Army Corps has finally complied. [...]

Allie Preston2025-03-27T14:50:09-04:00March 27th, 2025|Lake Okeechobee, Rescue the River of Grass|

Tropical Audubon’s Rock Salt: “The Science Is Clear — Rescue the River of Grass”

https://youtu.be/02fEeG7bY8Y?si=_atwkpWcP0Hg7MZZ “For decades, people have acknowledged the need for substantially more land in the EAA area… Now we must act before it’s too late." — Rock Salt, Tropical Audubon Society Few understand the history and challenges of Everglades restoration better than Terrence “Rock” Salt, former commander of the Jacksonville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Now a citizen advocate who serves as Vice President of Tropical Audubon Society in Miami, he says one fact has remained unchanged over the decades: Restoring the Everglades requires more land, more dynamic water storage, and more water-cleansing marshes in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) south of Lake Okeechobee. Rock sees a logical and timely path forward in the campaign to Rescue [...]

Allie Preston2025-03-24T17:46:58-04:00March 25th, 2025|Rescue the River of Grass|

WATCH NOW — How the DOGE cuts are impacting Florida’s national parks

https://youtu.be/hBSyB1Uo1rw?si=ohvBltDPVkAJ4znO Friends of the Everglades Executive Director Eve Samples weighs in on how the DOGE cuts to national parks staff is anything but efficient in this month's Voice of the Everglades update: The national parks and refuges of the Greater Everglades are spectacular and unique places — each bounded by water and offering respite from the mushrooming metropolis that has subsumed so much of Florida. Wise people who came before us — Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Ernest Coe, Nathaniel Reed among them — had the foresight to protect these swaths of wilderness because they recognized an investment in our collective future. Now these very places are under assault. Federal cuts over the past month have led to the elimination of about [...]

Allie Preston2025-03-13T15:25:25-04:00March 18th, 2025|Voice of the Everglades|

Don’t undermine decades of progress: Keep Everglades facilities open

Slash pines reflect in the water of Pine Glades Lake at Everglades National Park. On March 10, Friends of the Everglades joined National Parks Conservation Association and other environmental allies in signing on to a letter urging the Congressional Everglades Caucus to oppose the proposed lease terminations of key federal facilities in South Florida, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District Headquarters and the National Park Service Florida Natural Resource Center. These facilities play a vital role in Everglades restoration and protecting communities. The letter emphasiezes that federal and state governments have already invested $6 billion in Everglades restoration, and shutting down these offices would jeopardize that progress. Bipartisan action is needed to protect these [...]

Allie Preston2025-03-11T09:28:00-04:00March 11th, 2025|Everglades Restoration, Friends of the Everglades Statements|

Premature approval of EAA rock mine could undermine Everglades restoration

On March 7, 2025, Everglades Law Center sent the following letter on behalf of Friends of the Everglades to the Palm Beach County zoning director urging Palm Beach County to hold off on approving the controversial Southland mining project in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). The letter points out that the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) hasn’t finished its review of the project, which is required before the County can consider it a legitimate water resource initiative. Even though Southland is claiming SFWMD has already given them the green light, that's not the case—so far, the District has only taken the very first step in its evaluation process, and a final decision could take a year or more. [...]

Allie Preston2026-10-19T16:33:09-04:00March 7th, 2025|All Posts, Everglades Restoration, Friends of the Everglades Statements, Southland Rock Mine|

About Allie Preston