Allie Preston, Author at Friends of the Everglades

Watch the video highlights from the 4th Annual Marjory Stoneman Douglas Legacy Celebration

In April we gathered at The Biltmore in Coral Gables to celebrate our 4th Annual Marjory Stoneman Douglas Legacy Celebration. This year’s theme “Our Two National Treasures” brought hundreds of friends of the Everglades together to celebrate the incredible, one-of-a-kind ecosystem that is America’s Everglades and the internationally renowned, large-scale black and white photography of Clyde Butcher. Attendees were enthralled by Butcher’s keynote conversation and photography that captured the spirit of the Everglades. We honored environmental attorney Richard Grosso as this year’s Defender of the Everglades for his decades of legal advocacy — a moment made all the more special when he received a surprise proclamation from Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. And emcee Ron Magill lit up [...]

Allie Preston2025-05-15T11:43:48-04:00May 13th, 2025|All Posts, Defender of the Everglades Award, Marjory Stoneman Douglas Legacy Celebration|

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

Allie Preston2025-05-08T21:03:52-04:00May 8th, 2025|Florida Legislative Tracker, Florida Legislature, Friends of the Everglades LIVE|

Tell the Palm Beach County Commission to OPPOSE the Southland rock mine!

The Southland rock mine proposal, planned for 8,600 acres in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), is being rushed through without full vetting from the South Florida Water Management District — despite claims to the contrary by the developer. The proposed mine sits in an area critical to Everglades restoration — and yet it’s being fast-tracked based on misleading information and without the necessary public accountability. We need to act now so the Palm Beach County Commission votes NO at a public hearing on May 22 at 301 North Olive Avenue, West Palm Beach, on the 6th floor. By sending this letter to Palm Beach County Commissioners, you’re standing with Friends of the Everglades to demand transparency, protect South [...]

Allie Preston2026-10-19T16:29:25-04:00May 8th, 2025|Action Alerts, Southland Rock Mine, Wildlife Habitat|

Tell DeSantis to sign the State Park Preservation Act into law!

We’re one step away from a major victory for Florida’s state parks — and your voice is needed now more than ever. Yesterday we celebrated the unanimous passage of the State Park Preservation Act in the Florida House. The Senate unanimously approved the bill Wednesday. Now it’s up to Gov. DeSantis to sign it into law. Throughout this process you have stood with us to make clear that Floridians want these places to remain wild and natural. With strong language prohibiting golf courses, hotel-style lodges and other harmful development, this bill will do just that. We need you to lend your voice one last time to get this bill across the finish line. Take action now. Contact Gov. [...]

Allie Preston2025-05-02T12:05:25-04:00May 2nd, 2025|Action Alerts, Florida Legislative Tracker, Florida Legislature, Save Florida's State Parks, Wildlife Habitat|

BIG WIN for Florida’s State Parks!

https://youtu.be/tlVIlSUwPio?si=Ev_d6HJ3KZdmUl-1 We’ve got BIG news — and it’s worth celebrating! The Florida House of Representatives just unanimously passed the State Park Preservation Act! 🏛️ The bill has now cleared both chambers of the Florida Legislature — and will now head to Gov. DeSantis’ desk. We need him to sign it into law! 🛑 This bill includes strong protections that prohibit golf courses, pickleball courts, hotel-like lodges and other harmful development in our beloved state parks. 📝 The original version of the bill had dangerous loopholes. Friends of the Everglades and our allies stepped up to close them. 💬 We brought our suggestions to Rep. Snyder — and he listened. HB 209 reflects our input! 🛡️ Sen. Harrell, with backup [...]

Allie Preston2025-05-01T15:48:55-04:00May 1st, 2025|Florida Legislative Tracker, Florida Legislature, Save Florida's State Parks|

Tell state lawmakers to strengthen SB 80 to protect Florida’s state parks

New protections for Florida’s state parks are in sight — but we need your help. On Tuesday, the Florida Senate Fiscal Policy Committee passed Senate Bill 80, the parks protection bill sponsored by Sen. Gayle Harrell. It’s now headed to the Senate floor on April 29. But there’s a problem. The language in SB 80 isn’t tight enough. It might still allow inappropriate development and damage to the natural resources in our parks. The language in the bill passed by the House, HB 209, is more robust and preventive — and it’s imperative the Senate adopt that language in order to ensure the strongest possible protections for Florida’s state parks. Take action now. Contact your state lawmakers and [...]

Allie Preston2025-04-28T09:23:15-04:00April 23rd, 2025|Action Alerts, Florida Legislative Tracker, Florida Legislature, Save Florida's State Parks, Wildlife Habitat|

Paddling with purpose: Jake Portwood and the L2O Paddle Race

https://youtu.be/5_u1o2oK42U?si=Xx2kYu2TT66fwxdd “I'm always on the water. I started seeing the direct impacts of these Lake O discharges.” - Jake Portwood, L2O paddle race coordinator On Saturday, April 12, just after sunrise, dozens of paddlers launched into the Lake Okeechobee waterway for a grueling 36-mile trek to the Atlantic Ocean. But this wasn’t just a race — it was a mission. Paddlers racing from Port Mayaca to Sandsprit Park in Stuart followed the same route toxic discharges take when released from Lake Okeechobee, through the St. Lucie Locks and into the most biodiverse estuary in the United States. By retracing this destructive path, paddlers brought urgent attention to the environmental, economic and public health consequences of Florida’s broken water [...]

Allie Preston2025-04-22T15:00:07-04:00April 23rd, 2025|All Posts, Rescue the River of Grass|

Stop the rock mine. Save the Everglades.

The future of Everglades restoration depends on one thing above all: acquiring the land we need to send clean water south. And right now, a dangerous project is reminding us exactly what happens when we fail to protect that land south of Lake Okeechobee. You may have heard that the Southland rock mine (a mining proposal backed by Big Sugar) wants to blast away 8,600 acres just north of the EAA Reservoir. The proposal offers no verified environmental benefit and has no approved role in Everglades restoration plans. Despite what sugar’s high-paid lobbyists claim, this is not a water project — it's a taxpayer-funded rock mine designed to make the already rich even richer. Plain and simple: This is [...]

Allie Preston2026-10-19T16:28:50-04:00April 16th, 2025|Rescue the River of Grass, Southland Rock Mine|

WATCH NOW – Did you miss our live 2025 mid-session report?

https://www.youtube.com/live/oH3QuY2SN5I?si=R0AG_h7o_0BnwF5C We are halfway through Florida’s 2025 legislative session. Today's livestream with Executive Director Eve Samples and Policy Director Gil Smart led us through the key updates surrounding the state parks legislation, shining a light on how your voices have made a real difference throughout this process. As Gil pointed out today, the worst thing that could happen is we celebrate the passage of a weak bill with loopholes that leave us back at square one — with harmful development threatening state parks again. Friends of the Everglades will persist in working to strengthen state law to safeguard state parks from future attacks. (One point of clarification: The amendment to SB 80 referenced at the end of this video [...]

Allie Preston2025-04-15T15:18:56-04:00April 15th, 2025|Florida Legislative Tracker, Florida Legislature, Friends of the Everglades LIVE|

Friends of the Everglades 2025 Florida Legislature: Mid-session report

With less than three weeks left in the 2025 Florida Legislative session, huge questions remain. On the state parks issue, a pair of bills filed to prevent the inappropriate development proposals that generated a political firestorm last summer recently picked up steam as a result of amendments that tightened the language. Friends of the Everglades and other conservation groups were concerned about loopholes in the bills, House Bill 209 and Senate Bill 80, that could have allowed damaging development in our state parks. But in early April HB 209 sponsor Rep. John Snyder amended his bill to eliminate those loopholes, allowing Friends to support the proposal as it passed its final committee stop. It was then approved by the [...]

Allie Preston2025-04-17T15:08:52-04:00April 15th, 2025|Florida Legislative Tracker, Florida Legislature|

About Allie Preston