Blog - Page 44 of 63 - Friends of the Everglades

Everglades Illustrated: LOSOM must protect the estuaries

The Everglades is vast, and restoration is complex. We're breaking it down visually for you. Are Throwback Tuesdays a thing? We’re making them one today, as we take a look back at an image from 2016. The photo above was taken in a neighborhood canal off of the St. Lucie River during a time that is infamously remembered as the toxic summer of 2016. That summer, images like this one were not uncommon in the coastal community of Stuart, Florida — the east coast ground zero for Lake Okeechobee discharges. For those who lived through it, this picture brings to mind a particularly horrific smell. The guacamole-thick mats of blue-green algae emitted a stench so overwhelming that residents had trouble being outdoors. [...]

Allie Preston2021-11-09T12:25:55-05:00November 9th, 2021|Everglades Illustrated, LOSOM|

Honoring Connie Washburn: 2021 recipient of the “Defender of the Everglades” Award

Each year, Friends of the Everglades recognizes a person whose commitment to our mission to preserve, protect and restore the only Everglades in the world stands out among the rest. Not only is this award meant to acknowledge their significant contribution to the world of Everglades restoration, but it also highlights someone who embodies the spirit of our founder, Marjory Stoneman Douglas. This year’s choice is no exception. Connie Washburn has served as a member of the Board of Directors and a tireless advocate for Friends of the Everglades since 1994. Since then, she has fulfilled every supporting role possible within our organization and is always the first to volunteer for any committee or project. We have Connie to thank [...]

Allie Preston2021-11-08T14:43:56-05:00November 8th, 2021|Defender of the Everglades Award, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Young Friends of the Everglades|

Marjory Stoneman Douglas Legacy Luncheon Highlights

Thanks to those who joined us, our first-ever Marjory Stoneman Douglas Legacy Luncheon on November 3, 2021, at The Ritz-Carlton in Naples was a smashing success! Our work honoring the legacy of Friends of the Everglades' founder continues thanks to the generosity and passion of our supporters. We are sincerely grateful. Please enjoy some highlights from the event below.

Allie Preston2021-11-05T16:44:45-04:00November 5th, 2021|All Posts, Marjory Stoneman Douglas|

Your moment of Everglades zen: A Poem for the Everglades

We know the bad-news reel gets old. It’s good to stop and remember what we’re working so hard to protect. Here’s your dose of Everglades zen. Photographer and friend of the Everglades Bob Branham captures a breathtaking Northern Everglades sunrise at the Dinner Island Wildlife Management Area in Hendry County, 29 miles southwest of Clewiston, FL. "The Everglades" A poem by Campbell McGrath about Everglades National Park Green and blue and white, it is a flag for Florida stitched by hungry ibises. It is a paradise of flocks, a cornucopia of wind and grass and dark, slow waters. Turtles bask in the last tatters of afternoon, frogs perfect their symphony at dusk— in its solitude we remember ourselves, dimly, [...]

Allie Preston2021-11-01T16:38:19-04:00November 2nd, 2021|Everglades Zen|

VIDEO: There is no environmental justice without social justice.

There is no bigger issue of environmental justice in Florida right now than the outdated, dangerous practice of pre-harvest sugarcane burning. During today's Clean Water Conversation, leaders in the effort to stop sugarcane burning near Glades communities around Lake Okeechobee underscored the dangerous burning season conditions and the rise in community action to put an end to the practice for good. We owe a big thanks to Sierra Club's Patrick Ferguson, Belle Glade resident and Friends of the Everglades board member Robert Mitchell, and family nurse practitioner and Steering Committee member of the Florida Clinicians for Climate Action Carol Lindsey for sharing their wealth of knowledge with us. We covered many important details during today's Clean Water Conversation. If you missed the event today, you [...]

Allie Preston2021-10-29T15:35:52-04:00October 29th, 2021|Clean Water Conversations, Sugarcane Burning|

No near-term decision is more important to the future of Florida’s water than LOSOM

The following comments were made by Friends of the Everglades executive director Eve Samples during the October 28, 2021 LOSOM listening session hosted by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Army Corps of Engineers is nearing the end of a more than two-year effort to develop the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM), a new plan that will dictate when and where water moves for the next decade. The LOSOM process began in the aftermath of the toxic-algae crises that plagued the northern estuaries in 2013, 2016 and 2018, posing a threat to public health. Reducing harmful Lake Okeechobee discharges that trigger such algae blooms has been a top priority for Floridians in LOSOM. It must remain a top priority [...]

Allie Preston2021-10-28T18:10:34-04:00October 28th, 2021|All Posts, LOSOM|

Everglades Illustrated: Florida’s sugarcane region has some of the smokiest air across America

Look at the map above. The data tracks the increasing prevalence of wildfire smoke across the nation. It’s no surprise to see parts of California and the Midwest are lit up in red, due to dangerous wildfires that tear annually through areas of dry vegetation. What stood out is the data represented in our own backyards in Florida. The data-mapping project from National Public Radio and Stanford University’s Environmental Change and Human Outcomes Lab found that parts of Palm Beach, Hendry, Glades and Okeechobee counties recorded the worst smoke days in the United States — even higher than the wildfire-prone West Coast. That’s right — some of the most dangerous air in America is produced as a result of an [...]

Allie Preston2021-10-12T10:56:41-04:00October 12th, 2021|Everglades Illustrated, Sugarcane Burning|

Cane-burning season means toxic times for Glades communities

Autumn’s in the air. And in the Glades communities, so is toxic smoke and “black snow.” The sugar industry’s burn season began Oct. 1 and runs through May. During that time some 400,000 acres in the Everglades Agricultural Area will be put to the torch as growers burn off the leaves and tops of the plants, leaving only the sugar-bearing stalk to be harvested. For the industry, it’s simple and economical. For the residents of the Glades, it’s monstrous. During burn season, flames can shoot 30 to 40 feet in the air, with plumes of smoke visible from space. State law prohibits burning when the winds might blow the smoke and soot toward the wealthy coastal communities east of the [...]

Allie Preston2021-10-06T13:29:40-04:00October 7th, 2021|Sugarcane Burning|

Your moment of Everglades zen: Rev. Houston Cypress and “What Endures”

We know the bad-news reel gets old. It’s good to stop and remember what we’re working so hard to protect. Here’s your dose of Everglades zen. https://youtu.be/Adgge_pFuuo “Speaking to the world, and listening deeply for her reply.” We were so moved by this short video written and produced by Reverend Houston R. Cypress. In it he expresses a generational relationship to the greater Everglades that is so clearly palpable, the viewer is transported to a place of deep connection — by the views, the sounds, and smells — fostered and shared with us by the enduring culture of the Miccosukee Tribe. “We all grow so elegantly when spoken to so gently,” Rev. Cypress says, reminding us of the fragile yet [...]

Allie Preston2021-10-04T17:04:51-04:00October 5th, 2021|All Posts, Everglades Zen|

VIDEO: Looking ahead at Florida’s 2022 Legislative Session

During today's Clean Water Conversation, state Representative Anna Eskamani made news. She agreed to file legislation that would repeal the "particle emission" protections language approved last year in Senate Bill 88. This part of the "Right to Farm" bill protects the sugarcane industry from legal action related to the harmful impacts of sugarcane burning, leaving communities south of Lake Okeechobee vulnerable to the many health hazards connected to such burning. We applaud Rep. Eskamani's dedication to shielding residents who are disproportionately impacted by these dangers. And we stand ready to help shine a light on this environmental injustice as well as many other policy challenges elected officials will face in the state legislative session that starts in January. We covered [...]

Allie Preston2021-09-30T14:06:03-04:00September 30th, 2021|All Posts|