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The Battle of the Everglades: The Politics of Sugar

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How large were the Everglades before human development started in south Florida? ... The Everglades during the Industrial Years-1920 to 1960 ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: The Battle of the Everglades: The Politics of Sugar


1
The Battle of the Everglades The Politics of
Sugar
  • Nicholas Hall

2
First of all..
  • How large were the Everglades before human
    development started in south Florida?

3
  • About 4 million acres! it stretched from the
    south end of Lake Okeechobee to the southern tip
    of Florida along the gulf coast.

4
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5
The Everglades during the Industrial Years-1920
to 1960
  • After devastating hurricanes in 1926 and 1928,
    the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers redesigned and
    developed the south end of Lake Okeechobee for
    development by building large canals and series
    of dams to channel the water that was supposed to
    be feeding the everglades eastward to the
    Atlantic side and into the ocean.

6
  • This newly developed area provided 1.3 million
    acres of what used to be the everglades into land
    for urban use.
  • This developed area also provided 1 million acres
    of land for the Everglades Agricultural Area.
  • During the 1950s (after the embargo on Cuba
    limiting our sugar imports) new growers focused
    on the Agricultural Area for sugar cane. The
    great Florida weather, rich soil and abundant
    source of fresh water was a perfect combination
    for Sugar Cane.

7
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8
Second Question
  • How much is the Sugar industry in Florida worth?
  • 700 million! worth
  • more than Florida-grown
  • corn, soybean, tobacco
  • and peanut crops combined! Only citrus
    is more important than
    sugarcane for Floridas Agricultural Economy.

9
The Impacts of Sugar
  • The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) was
    specifically designed for the Sugar industry, yet
    no one took into consideration the environmental
    impacts of what may happen to the Everglades
    directly south of the Sugar cane fields.
  • It was soon discovered that the runoff from these
    sugar cane fields carried large amounts of
    phosphorus, a nutrient, which choked off other
    plants from growing in the Everglades. In a
    fragile eco-system, these nutrients can have a
    huge impact on the balance of life for all that
    live in it.

10
  • Also with phosphorus in the water, the usually
    clear waters of the Florida Bay turned a dark
    cloudy brown by the dead sea grass from the
    Everglades.
  • The Everglades is also home to 54 endangered
    species and it provides drinking water to Palm
    Beach and Miami.

11
So what is being done?
  • Nothing can be done about the already developed
    land south of Lake Okeechobee..but steps have
    been taken to clean up the run-off from the sugar
    cane and improve the future for the remanding
    area of the Everglades.
  • The Sugar Industry has tried to oppose
    environmentalists claims that the pollution is
    from the sugar cane and have appealed decisions
    that clean-up of the Everglades is necessary.
  • But

12
The Everglades Forever Act
  • After much lobbying from environmentalists and
    after extensive research was done.In 1994, the
    Everglades Forever Act was passed by the Florida
    Legislature and signed into law by Governor
    Lawton Chiles.
  • It has been called the most ambitious and complex
    environmental restoration effort ever undertaken

13
What will this plan do?
  • set farm water runoff quality at a standard that
    is twice as clean as rain.
  • create over 40,000 acres of filtering marshes.
  • restore a more natural timing and distribution of
    water to Everglades National Park.
  • increase the level of water flowing to the
    Everglades by 28.

14
Has it worked?
  • Yes and No
  • Yes the levels of nutrients have declined to the
    set level and the amount of water flowing though
    the Everglades is rising.
  • No the state of Florida has had trouble keeping
    to the high price tag that is needed to do more
    repairs and rejuvenate what remains of the
    Everglades

15
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16
  • THE END
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