Allie Preston, Author at Friends of the Everglades

Friends of the Everglades 2023 Mid-Session Legislative Report

Prior to the beginning of Florida’s legislative session March 7, we worried this would be the “session of sprawl.” Unfortunately, that prediction is coming to pass. Bills that will disempower citizens, handcuff local governments and result in more reckless development have sailed through committee hearings with little opposition. A few have already passed the full House or Senate and almost certainly will land on Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk. Meanwhile, many bills that might help our fragile waters have gone nowhere. There is some good news. The worst bills of the session, House Bill 1197 and Senate Bill 1240, have not gotten hearings. Those bills would have prohibited virtually any local government attempt to regulate water quality or pollution control. [...]

Allie Preston2023-04-26T15:08:27-04:00April 12th, 2023|All Posts, Florida Legislative Tracker|

Everglades Illustrated: This is how many sugarcane burning permits are issued in a single day

Last week, Friends of the Everglades Executive Director Eve Samples took to the air with a volunteer LightHawk pilot to survey sugarcane burning in the Everglades Agricultural Area south of Lake Okeechobee. It didn’t take long to find what they were looking for. Within five minutes of takeoff, they spotted several large burns, with smoke and ash blowing westward toward the Glades communities of Belle Glade, South Bay, Pahokee and Clewiston. Elsewhere in South Florida, it was a blue-sky day. But above the Glades, it looked like twilight due to the smoke, known to locals in the Glades as “black snow.” The burns produced so much smoke that the plumes showed up as rain on the LightHawk pilot’s radar. Keep [...]

Allie Preston2023-04-10T16:45:10-04:00April 11th, 2023|Action Alerts, Big Sugar, Everglades Illustrated, Stop Sugarcane Burning, Sugarcane Burning|

Happy birthday, Majory Stoneman Douglas

Happy birthday, Marjory Stoneman Douglas! Our spirited founder was born on this day in 1890, 133 years ago. Marjory deepened human connection with the Everglades through her seminal book The Everglades: River of Grass, which was published in 1947, the same year Everglades National Park was founded. Her efforts to preserve, protect, and restore the only Everglades in the world continue through Friends of the Everglades, which she founded in 1969 at the age of 79 — proving it’s never too late to leave a positive mark on the world! Marjory wore many hats, literally and figuratively, and her impacts on this beloved, unique ecosystem endure, which is why her birthday is still worth celebrating! April 7 is officially [...]

Allie Preston2023-04-05T11:16:37-04:00April 7th, 2023|Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Marjory's Circle|

Your Everglades moment of Zen: Just Hatched!

Spring is in full bloom, signaling something we look forward to every year: It’s baby bird season! Everywhere you look in the Greater Everglades ecosystem, hatchlings are cracking open their multi-colored shells to peek out into the world for the first time. And they’re hungry! Their mouths are often wide open and pointed skyward, marking bullseyes for their parents to drop food inside. These birds will mature relatively quickly and will soon take flight to join the flocks that are indicative of thriving Florida ecosystems. Friends of the Everglades Multimedia Producer Leah Voss has spent the last few weeks capturing these Easter-egg-come-early moments. Barred owls, eagles, osprey, and [...]

Allie Preston2023-04-04T14:25:23-04:00April 4th, 2023|All Posts, Everglades Zen, Wildlife Habitat|

Register now for a Friends of the Everglades LIVE

Allie Preston2023-04-05T17:42:48-04:00March 30th, 2023|All Posts, Florida Legislative Tracker, Florida Legislature, Friends of the Everglades LIVE|

Help us reform the U.S. Sugar Program

A sugarcane field burns in the distance in the Everglades Agricultural Area on Jan. 6, 2023, in Palm Beach County. We need your help. For decades, Big Sugar has received a sweet deal in the federal Farm Bill — despite its damaging influence on Florida’s water policy and pollution of our air through sugarcane burning. We have an opportunity to change that by urging lawmakers in Washington to end the sugar program in the upcoming Farm Bill. The Farm Bill, which is reauthorized every five years by Congress, covers issues such as agriculture, nutrition, conservation, forestry, and rural development. The federal government underwrites Big Sugar’s profits through the sugar program in the Farm Bill. It's an outdated [...]

Allie Preston2023-03-30T06:49:02-04:00March 29th, 2023|Action Alerts, Action Alerts, Big Sugar, Farm Bill, Florida Legislative Tracker, Sugarcane Burning|

WERP must meet water-quality standards in Big Cypress National Preserve

Photo credit: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Today, Friends of the Everglades submitted comments to the Army Corps of Engineers in the wake of concerns raised during the Feb. 28, 2023, meeting of the Project Delivery Team (PDT) for the Western Everglades Restoration Project (WERP). It's essential for WERP to meet water-quality standards in Big Cypress National Preserve. This correspondence reflects our ongoing commitment to safeguarding water quality in the Greater Everglades. Restoration cannot succeed in the long-term unless the water is clean. To read our comments in full, click the button below:

Allie Preston2023-03-28T12:53:59-04:00March 28th, 2023|Everglades Restoration, Friends of the Everglades Statements|

WATCH NOW — What the LOSOM delay could mean for the northern estuaries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0bcLGNbyYE From the desk of our Executive Director, Eve Samples, your Voice of the Everglades update: For four years, we’ve been advocating for a new Lake Okeechobee plan that addresses the risks of toxic algae and sends more clean water south to Everglades National Park. We were finally headed in that direction, with an improved (but imperfect) plan known as the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM), which was supposed to take effect this June. Unfortunately, we now have to wait about six months longer — even as another algae season is brewing. Why the wait? A federal agency known as the National Marine Fisheries Service wants to take a closer look at LOSOM’s potential impacts on red tide [...]

Allie Preston2023-03-21T12:39:53-04:00March 21st, 2023|All Posts, LOSOM, Voice of the Everglades|

Friends of the Everglades joins Hulu at SXSW: Bridging the Gender Gap in Public Art

Bridging the Gender Gap in Public Art panelists (from left) Brenda Berkman, of Monumental Women, Saya Woolfalk, artist, Eve Samples, Executive Director of Friends of the Everglades, and Vivi Nguyen, of Hulu. Friends of the Everglades is thrilled to be part of an exciting initiative, sponsored by Hulu, honoring the lives and spirits of three visionary women who made history. Of roughly 5,200 monuments in this country, fewer than 400 are dedicated to women. That imbalance inspired the video-streaming company Hulu to create three new public monuments — including one dedicated to Friends of the Everglades founder Marjory Stoneman Douglas. The Made By Her: Monumental Women initiative, which honors the contributions to society made by Marjory Stoneman [...]

Allie Preston2023-03-17T15:16:26-04:00March 17th, 2023|All Posts, Marjory Stoneman Douglas|

Everglades Illustrated: Can you guess Florida’s biggest polluter?

Florida’s BMAPs (Basin Management Action Plans) are supposed to provide a framework for cleaning up the state’s most beleaguered waterways. They detail local and state commitments to reduce pollutant loading. Broken down by watersheds around the state, they contain proposed solutions, including permit limits on wastewater facilities, urban and agricultural “best management practices” and conservation programs designed to achieve pollutant reductions established by a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). But a 2022 investigation by TCPalm deduced the program wasn’t working. Why not? The chart above, featured in the latest Deep Dive from our friends at VoteWater, helps to explain it. Total phosphorus and total nitrogen loading into nine separate sub-watersheds making up the Lake Okeechobee BMAP is broken down [...]

Allie Preston2023-03-15T13:17:53-04:00March 15th, 2023|Everglades Illustrated|

About Allie Preston