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Looking Out for The Gators

Florida's Everglades National Park doesn't look like much from an airplane. A flat, soggy field of tall grass stretches toward the horizon. A few trees dot the landscape under the hot Florida sun.

But a closer look reveals a busy, buzzing natural world. Hundreds of species make up the Everglades' ecosystem. Egrets and white ibis soar above the water. Lime-green tree frogs croak. Craggy alligators lurk below the swamp's surface.

Now, after years of bad planning, this habitat may be dying. Dozens of its species, such as the Florida panther, are endangered. Vice President Al Gore just announced a new plan to help save this precious region. "We can do something about it," he said, "but only if we work together."

The Road To Disaster
When large numbers of people began settling in Florida nearly a hundred years ago, the Everglades were considered worthless swampland. Builders did their best to drain the swamp. Farms and cities sprang up where alligators once roamed freely.

In the 1920s, Army engineers straightened rivers and built thousands of miles of canals and dikes. They hoped to prevent flooding and keep water supplies stable for farms and fast-growing cities. The engineers didn't realize that changing the flow of water would harm the ecosystem drastically. The Everglades, which once covered 4,000 square miles, shrank by half. Populations of birds, alligators and other animals shrank too.

"Everything depends on the water," explains Sandy Dayhoff, education coordinator for Everglades National Park. "Not only having enough water, but the right amount at the right time." Dayhoff compares the Everglades with a giant bathtub. In the rainy season, the tub is full. In the dry season, it slowly drains. But human activities are interfering with both parts of this natural cycle.

Farmers, especially sugar-cane growers, have created another problem. A chemical called phosphorus is found in crop fertilizers and animal wastes. Sugar-cane plantations and dairy farms dump tons of phosphorus into South Florida's waters every year. Some plants absorb it better than others. Cattails, for example, are great at absorbing phosphorus. This plant is beginning to take over the park, crowding out native saw grass, which many animals need.

A Costly Rescue Plan
In the 1980s people began to realize the Everglades were in trouble. Engineers are now trying to put rivers back on their old winding courses. It's a huge project. Says Carol Browner, head of the Environmental Protection Agency: "Our plan is the largest effort ever to restore an ecosystem."

It won't be cheap. The plan will cost $1.5 billion over seven years. Some say sugar-cane growers must pay their fair share. One idea is to add a tax on sugar that would help pay for the plan. But sugar growers say a tax would hurt their business and risk the jobs of 40,000 sugar workers.

Still, nearly everyone agrees that the Everglades must be rescued. "There's no other place like this on earth," says Dayhoff. She has worked at the park for 24 years and remembers the way it looked when she was a girl. "It would be terrible to destroy a national treasure like this."

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