>>Less than a year after two state agencies decided to combine forces and remove invasive snakes from the Everglades, contractors caught a record number of Burmese pythons.
The News-Press reported that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Southwest Florida Water Management District removed nearly 2,000 invasive pythons in the first eight months of 2020, surpassing 2019 totals. As of mid-October, the teams removed nearly 4,000 snakes bringing the total snakes removed since the program's inception in 2017 to 6,278.
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/florida/2020/11/14/thousands-of-invasive-pythons-removed-from-everglades/
I have always wondered if those snakes are good to eat Hell ,if they have killed almost 7,000 of them ,the glades must be eaten up with them
JT
Quote from: Stone-Man on November 18, 2020, 12:15:25 PMI have always wondered if those snakes are good to eat Hell ,if they have killed almost 7,000 of them ,the glades must be eaten up with them
JT
>>>Burmese pythons in the Everglades contain some of the highest levels of mercury found in a living creature.
"For some reason, the pythons that are coming out of here, they have mercury concentrations higher than mine waste, a mercury mine," said Everglades superintendent Dan Kimball. "According to (USGS scientist Dave Krabbenhoft), they've never found anything that has this high of mercury levels that's still alive. It is amazing."
https://www.outsideonline.com/1794941/florida-officals-dont-eat-python-meat
Marjory Stoneman Douglas spent life defending EvergladesMarjory Stoneman Douglas is a name known nationally because of the school shooting, but she spent her life fighting to save the Everglades.
COMING IN DECEMBER: DRAINED, A PODCAST ABOUT THE MASSIVE PLAN TO SAVE THE EVERGLADES
>>>In the final days of his administration, with the eyes of the world on Florida where the epic 2000 election recount was underway, President Bill Clinton quietly signed into law a plan to restore the Everglades. Twenty years and $17 billion later, the grandiose vision of reversing decades of environmental damage remains stuck in the swamp.
In "Drained," a podcast from WMFE and the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, Amy Green wades into the controversy around one of the most ambitious environmental restoration efforts ever undertaken. From rivers of toxic slime to a mind-boggling plan to inject a giant bubble of freshwater 1,000 feet underground, "Drained" examines the massive plan to restore the river of grass and poses the big question about the future of this natural wonder: Can it be saved?
https://fcir.org/2020/12/01/coming-in-december-drained-a-podcast-about-the-massive-plan-to-save-the-everglades/
DRAINED, A PODCAST ABOUT THE MASSIVE PLAN TO SAVE THE EVERGLADES
is live now....
https://www.wmfe.org/drained-episode-1-a-river-runs-dry/169840
Too little too late?
"Race against the rise
What should planners do if, as some simulations suggest, sea level rise is already outpacing the efforts by state and federal authorities to restore freshwater flow through the Everglades?"
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/florida-everglades-freshwater-saltwater-sea-level-rise
https://youtu.be/ZMsENFaM0mY
The Florida Everglades: Appreciating the charms of the River of Grass
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>>>In summer 2007, the South Florida Sun Sentinel Travel section — of which I was the editor — asked readers to name "The Seven Wonders of Florida." In the state with the world's most famous theme park, an undramatic national park took top honors.
This was admirable, though it meant that I would have to visit the Everglades, in July, and write a story about it. In 18 years in South Florida — in 18 years as a travel editor in South Florida — I had never been to the park. When I told friends and neighbors of my next assignment, I discovered I was not alone. I wondered if all the readers who had voted for the park had visited it. It never lands on the list of the 10 most visited national parks, even though it's the only one that abuts an urban sprawl of 6million people. Even Marjory Stoneman Douglas, whose book "The Everglades: River of Grass" is credited with bringing the subtle beauty of the place to the nation's attention, rarely ventured past Homestead and never spent the night. "It's enough," she reportedly said, "for me to know it's there."
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/explore-florida/os-exfl-tr-florida-everglades-river-of-grass-20210110-kvsnfnczqvfdfozxrfut34guzy-story.html
'It's A Little Thumb Sticking Out In The Everglades' —
And It's Cost Taxpayers Millions in Flood Control
>>>On the edge of the Everglades, less than a couple thousand feet from a backdoor entrance to the national park, the Las Palmas neighborhood teeters like a forlorn scheme to conquer the marshes.
Perfectly gridded lots are filled with heavy equipment, plant nurseries and a handful of houses. Goats and dogs wander fenced yards. And after a good rain, there's water everywhere.
"I left for work in the morning before 8 a.m. and we had puddles. No big deal," resident Raul Arrazcaeta said in November after a downpour the night before. "When I got home at 5:30, I had five inches of water on my driveway. Right now, I'm sitting on my porch and the only thing that doesn't have any water is my porch."
Give the story a listen at:
https://www.wlrn.org/news/2021-01-14/its-a-little-thumb-sticking-out-in-the-everglades-and-its-cost-taxpayers-millions-in-flood-control
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Defending the sacred: Indigenous nations and Everglades advocates join in prayer walk>>>They came from cities, reservations and everywhere in between. Toddlers and grandparents, students and professionals, united to defend the sacred: Florida's Everglades.
Those who turned out for the two-day, 38-mile roadside march hoped to bring attention to this critically important wet wilderness and the controversial handover of permitting control from the federal entities who have long held it to chronically understaffed Florida agencies
Miccosukee advocate Betty Osceola has organized prayer walks before, but this one had particular urgency for her.
Last month, the U.S. government turned over wetland permitting authority to the state of Florida, giving it control of Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act, despite outraged reaction from Florida's native people and many who support the environment.
https://www.news-press.com/story/tech/science/environment/2021/01/15/defending-sacred-indigenous-nations-and-everglades-advocates-join-prayer-walk/6608360002/
Progress at the EAA Reservoir—moving earth to move more water south
>>>Had it not been for a unified community a couple of years ago, the landscape at the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir site would look a lot different than it does now. It would still be stuck in the stranglehold of special interests who were quite satisfied with the status quo—much to the detriment of Everglades restoration progress.
Instead, the project's moving along now—one blast at a time.
What could've been.
A shady deal in 2018 would've delayed this progress, possibly by years. During a public meeting on November 7, the former South Florida Water Management District governing board granted an eight-year lease extension for sugarcane operations on 15,440 acres of state-owned land—the same land slated for this EAA Reservoir site.
For months, the lease had been negotiated in secret and was added to the agenda at 9pm the night before the meeting. Together with other shocked stakeholders, including Congressman Brian Mast on behalf of Governor-elect Ron DeSantis, we stood before the board and urged them to delay the vote until the public had the opportunity to review the lease.
They ignored the pleas and unanimously voted to approve it.
We quickly launched an awareness campaign, "Drain the District, Save the Swamp," to expose their scheme to the public and demand the resignations of the corrupt board. The unified voices of our supporters and partner conservation groups were heard loud and clear by the incoming administration.
A turning point in restoration.
Two days after Governor Ron DeSantis took office in January 2019, he signed Executive Order 19-12 Achieving More Now For Florida's Environment, implementing major reforms to ensure the protection of Florida's environment and water quality.
His first order of business? Cleaning house at the District. DeSantis immediately called for resignations from the entire SFWMD board and appointed a new governing board that fights on behalf of the public.
The lease was eventually terminated, clearing the way for construction to begin, but it serves as a reminder of the type of schemes that have delayed progress for decades—when the public is aware and gets involved, we have the power to defeat these attempts.
Now, thanks to those united efforts, the land from that lease is bustling with progress—heavy equipment, explosions, and boots on the ground are working to expedite the critical restoration project.
What is the EAA Reservoir?
(https://i2.wp.com/captainsforcleanwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/EAA-Project-Map.jpg?fit=640%2C570&ssl=1)
Overall, it's a massive project in design and build—one that will eventually occupy a footprint the size of Manhattan—but its benefit to the overall system will be equally immense. It's a key component of the overall restoration plan and provides the greatest relief to the most affected areas, so seeing progress on its construction is exciting.
Construction of the project's two main components has been divvied up between the Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), with the Corps tackling the reservoir and the District spearheading the STA. Due to the enormity of the reservoir—it will hold water up to a depth of 20 feet for a total capacity of 240,000 acre-feet—it's currently still in the design phase, but construction on the STA is well underway.
https://captainsforcleanwater.org/eaa-reservoir-progress/
Former President Donald Trump wasn't exactly a friend to environmentalists. He weakened regulations that protected habitat and wildlife, expanded drilling and called climate change a hoax.
Yet he increased spending on Everglades restoration to over $200 million a year, pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Now the Everglades Coalition wants President Biden to nearly quadruple federal spending to $2.9 billion dollars over the next four years. The coalition represents 61 environmental groups.
"When I was up in Washington and I did get a vote as to what was in the Everglades budget back then, we fully funded everything that the Corps and the water management district said they could handle. What's different now is Governor DeSantis has given the biggest boost to Everglades restoration funding in the history of the program."
https://www.wmfe.org/advocates-want-biden-to-quadruple-spending-on-fixing-the-everglades/173310
'Manhattan-sized' Everglades project could restore South Florida water quality
'Manhattan-sized' Everglades project could restore South Florida water quality - https://nbc-2.com/news/2021/02/22/manhattan-sized-everglades-project-could-restore-south-florida-water-quality/
Boardwalk Damaged By 2017 Hurricane To Be Replaced At Everglades National Park
>>>More than two years after a hurricane twisted a boardwalk like a pretzel at Everglades National Park, construction of a new walkway is beginning.
Hurricane Irma in September 2017 ravaged more than a few units of the National Park System as it roared through the Virgin Islands, into Florida, and up the East Coast. At Everglades, the storm uprooted and curled the half-mile boardwalk at West Lake. Now funding through Public Law 115-123, which was passed specifically for national park units significantly impacted by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, is being spent to build a new boardwalk. The project cost $3,453,124 for design, demolition, and construction
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2021/02/boardwalk-damaged-2017-hurricane-be-replaced-everglades-national-park
Python-hunting extraordinaires wrangle Everglades invasion one snake at a timePython breeding season has been in full swing since the beginning of December. While male pythons are slithering around seeking out females, python hunters are on the move as well. They want to catch these snakes before the females can lay their eggs.
Professional python hunters Donna Kalil and Amy Siewe said breeding season is always something they look forward to.
video of two female python hunters catching snakes!
This should give
@Mudwall Gatewood 3.0 a thrill...
https://abc-7.com/news/cover-story/2021/03/02/python-hunting-extraordinaires-wrangle-everglades-invasion-one-snake-at-a-time/
Tell the Army Corps to fix the flow to the everglades -- sign the petition
The floodgates from Lake Okeechobee opened Oct. 14, 2020, forcing polluted water into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries and posing a risk of toxic algae blooms. This government-sanctioned pollution is preventable.
Tell the Army Corps of Engineers to stop future discharges to the northern estuaries by moving more Lake O water to the Everglades during the dry season, when algae is not prevalent and the Everglades and Florida Bay need freshwater. This change in Lake O operations will:
https://www.everglades.org/tell-the-army-corps-to-fix-the-flo/
FWC uses dogs to hunt Burmese pythons in the Everglades
https://wsvn.com/news/local/florida/fwc-uses-dogs-to-hunt-burmese-pythons-in-the-everglades/
>>>Dogs have become a new weapon in the fight against an invasive species in the Everglades, and the canines are being trained to pursue Burmese pythons.
The python eradication effort, which has been ongoing for years now, is getting some four-legged back-up.
Giving the Burmese python the boot from the Everglades takes a team effort and creative ideas, so Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, water management and the National Park Service came together and decided it was time to call out the dogs.
Quote from: Woolly Bugger on March 10, 2021, 09:57:49 AMFWC uses dogs to hunt Burmese pythons in the Everglades
https://wsvn.com/news/local/florida/fwc-uses-dogs-to-hunt-burmese-pythons-in-the-everglades/
>>>Dogs have become a new weapon in the fight against an invasive species in the Everglades, and the canines are being trained to pursue Burmese pythons.
The python eradication effort, which has been ongoing for years now, is getting some four-legged back-up.
Giving the Burmese python the boot from the Everglades takes a team effort and creative ideas, so Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, water management and the National Park Service came together and decided it was time to call out the dogs.
Are the dogs bait?
Welcome to Florida: The Everglades and Big SugarOur guest this week is Amy Green, author of "Moving Water: The Everglades and Big Sugar." Amy's book, which published in March of 2021, takes a look at Big Sugar's influence on Everglades pollution and degradation, as well as Big Sugar's influence on Florida and national politics and efforts to repair the Everglades.
https://stpetecatalyst.com/podcast-episodes/welcome-to-florida-the-everglades-and-big-sugar/
Officials want to know who's responsible for several fires in the Everglades
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EVERGLADES, Fla. – Several fires have been set intentionally within the last two months near Everglades National Park, officials said.
According to the National Park Service, the fires have cost the park hundreds of thousands of dollars and have endangered staff and park visitors.
The fires have been set specifically in the vicinity of Main Park Road and adjacent roads near the park, NPS reported. These roads are easily accessed through the Homestead entrance.
Everglades National Park and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive [ATF] are investigating the fires.
Officials noted that as South Florida enters into the driest part of the year, the risk of wildfires increases.
Anyone with information about these crimes is asked to contact ATF at ATF at 1-(888)-ATF-FIRE (1-888-283-3473) or the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch Tip Line at 1-888-653-0009.
https://nbc-2.com/news/crime/2021/04/29/officials-want-to-know-whos-responsible-for-several-fires-in-the-everglades/
Gov. DeSantis kicks off annual Python Challenge in Everglades
223 Burmese pythons removed from Everglades during July contest
Winner of $10,000 prize removed 41 pythons
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he Florida Python Challenge saw 223 Burmese pythons removed from the Everglades in July, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The 10-day competition had more than 600 people register to take part in the event., according to the FWC.
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/08/04/223-burmese-pythons-removed-from-everglades-during-july-contest/
Are those snakes good to eat ???
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'Everglades Avengers': All-female python hunting team shows off 91 pound catch
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/08/13/everglades-avengers-all-female-python-hunting-team-shows-off-91-pound-catch/
Everglades Foundation CEO discusses Everglades restoration project
https://www.wptv.com/news/political/to-the-point/everglades-foundation-ceo-discusses-everglades-restoration-project
>>>The Everglades restoration project has entered its second decade and there is hope the project will be complete in the next 10 years.
Eric Eikenberg, CEO of the Everglades Foundation, told WPTV's Michael Williams on To the Point, the progress he sees now gives more hope than ever.
https://youtu.be/6yOmWhU-fEo
https://youtu.be/Adgge_pFuuo
Army Corps completes reservoir for Everglades restoration
>>>Army Corps completes reservoir for Everglades restoration
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed work on a $339 million Everglades restoration project aimed at cleansing water runoff before it flows into a troubled Florida river.
Corps and local officials held a ceremony Friday for the 12,000-acre (4,800-hectare) project in Martin County known officially as the C-44 Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area. It's a key part of a broader effort to restore the vast Florida Everglades.
The reservoir will capture, store and clean fertilizer-laden runoff from farms and development before it is routed into the St. Lucie River and ultimately the Indian River Lagoon. Both have been plagued by harmful algae blooms and other long-term problems associated with water pollution that threatens wildlife and human health.
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>>>The project is part of the Indian River Lagoon-South Project, which is a component of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. That long-term program encompasses 68 projects designed to restore, protect and preserve the Everglades ecosystem.
The new C-44 reservoir is the first fully completed part of the overall restoration plan.
https://www.winknews.com/2021/11/20/army-corps-completes-reservoir-for-everglades-restoration/
Everglades' Wading Birds Had Mixed Success In 2020
>>>Nesting numbers in 2020 were an order of magnitude higher than those seen in historically low nesting years in the 1980s and '90s. However, 2020 nesting still fell short of the historically high nest numbers of the 1930s and '40s. This suggests that restoration efforts since the 1990s have improved the foraging conditions that lead to increased nesting, but significant room for improvement remains as Everglades restoration continues.
Overall, Great Egret, Wood Stork, and White Ibis nesting has been increasing steadily since 1986, meeting restoration targets in most years since 2000, including 2020. Roseate Spoonbills also did well, while the early arrival of the rainy season spelled disaster for some populations of wading birds, especially Wood Storks in Southwest Florida.
ever-wading_bird_report_summaryflorida_audubon.png
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2021/12/everglades-wading-birds-had-mixed-success-2020
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to spend $1.1 billion on restoring and preserving South Florida's Everglades during the current fiscal year, a White House official told the Miami Herald. The money comes through the infrastructure law President Joe Biden signed into law in November and represents the single largest investment in the Everglades in history, according to the White House. Florida's congressional delegation split along party lines last year on the more than $1 trillion infrastructure package with only the state's Democrats voting in favor of it.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article257471158.html#storylink=cpy
The Florida Everglades will be getting major funding from the Biden Administration, with $1.1 billion earmarked for restoration projects.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the funding Wednesday, the largest-ever infusion of federal money for the famed South Florida environmental treasure.
"The Everglades is the lifeblood of South Florida, and this historic funding commitment by the Biden Administration will ensure we can much more aggressively move to restore and protect the natural sheet flow of water that is the largest environmental restoration project in American history," said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who co-chairs the Everglades Caucus with fellow South Florida Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart.
THE WORLD THROUGH A LENS
Six Days Afloat in the Everglades
After a storm disrupted plans for a 99-mile paddling trek, a Times journalist's time on the water took a more reflective turn. Come look and listen alongside him.
>>>From a distance, the mouth of the creek was indistinguishable from the thick tangle of mangroves that concealed it — as if the narrow waterway were only willing to reveal itself to those who knew to look.
We approached attentively, unhurriedly, scanning the banks for alligators and wading birds. Twenty feet in front of us, a white ibis, hunting in the shallows with its long curved bill, fluttering out of sight.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/21/travel/everglades-kayak-trip.html
Everglades restoration is getting a billion dollar windfall. Here's what that will buy
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>>>Florida's troubled Everglades received a billion-dollar windfall last month when the White House slipped a handful of environmental restoration projects into a new infrastructure spending package. The trillion-dollar plan is intended to address the national backlog of neglected roads, ports and other projects.
WLRN's Jenny Staletovich explains what a billion dollars will buy and how it could improve conditions in one of the world's largest wetlands.
JENNY STALETOVICH: Hiking across a shallow channel in the Everglades Big Cypress swamp or airboating across the its river of grass, it's hard to imagine that the maze of wetlands, prairies and cypress domes that were once the size of Connecticut are in deep trouble.
https://www.wlrn.org/environment/2022-02-25/everglades-restoration-is-getting-a-billion-dollar-windfall-heres-what-that-will-buy
Spotted in the Everglades: A critically endangered
smalltooth sawfish
A friend of the Everglades recently took a boat trip from Flamingo to the Shark River basin where he shared a chance encounter with an extremely special Everglades species.
In the video above, you'll see the protruding double dorsal fins and tail of a smalltooth sawfish as it patrols the shallow shoreline of Shark River. The species gets it name from its most distinct feature, detailed in the drawing below — a long, flat snout lined with teeth that looks like a saw and is known as a rostrum. These saws are extremely sensitive to currents given off by prey, capable of detecting the tiniest muscle contractions, and allowing sawfish to hunt in the dead of night.
Once common on the east coast from Florida through the Carolinas and in the gulf states, it is now designated as critically endangered due to many issues including poor water quality, habitat degradation and accidental capture in commercial gill nets. The Everglades is one of the last remaining strongholds of this species, making moments like this one all the more rare and exciting.
https://youtu.be/Els3XgyOl74
National Parks Traveler Episode 166: Slogging Through A Cypress Dome At EvergladesMore podcast:
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/podcast/2022-04-17-national-parks-traveler-episode-166-slogging-through-cypress-dome-everglades
https://youtu.be/o3QooC1m2do
'River of Grass': Inside the quest to restore the Everglades
>>>Eight hundred feet up, the helicopter banks hard to the left. Thehorizon disappears. Mark Cook, an avian biologist, peers out his side window at a small irregular patch of water below. It's hardly distinguishable from innumerable other patches that lie in every direction, dark and shining amid a ragged expanse of brown marsh grass and green tree islands.
There's one small difference: This patch is flecked with tiny specks of white, scattered like scraps of paper around a puddle.
(https://images.csmonitor.com/csm/2022/06/0627-EVERGLADES-aerial-birds.jpg?alias=standard_900x600)
"This year is pretty quiet," Dr. Cook has been saying. "It's not very good for wading birds."
https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2022/0616/River-of-Grass-Inside-the-quest-to-restore-the-Everglades
https://youtu.be/uBRjmwwxS3o
FOLLOW THE WATER
>>>When most people think of the Everglades, they picture the sawgrass wetlands and mangroves at the southern tip of Florida. What they don't realize is that the health of this incredible ecosystem is dependent upon events far to the north. Historically, the Everglades received a steady supply of fresh water from a massive watershed that begins near Orlando, but over the past century—in the name of flood control and agriculture—man has interrupted that flow, most notably at Lake Okeechobee. As a result, the amount of water that reaches Florida Bay, at the southern tip of the state, is less than half of what it should be.
https://www.orvis.com/follow-the-water.html
'The Everglades: River of Grass' takes a look back on the way forward to restoration
>>>Marjory Stoneman Douglas was a journalist before she became one of the greatest champions for protecting the Everglades.
She supported the efforts to turn it into a National Park and served on the park's founding committee.
Her book, "The Everglades: River of Grass," came out in 1947, the year Everglades National Park was finally dedicated. Two decades later, she convinced President Richard Nixon to nix a project for a major airport in what is now the Big Cypress National Preserve.
https://www.wlrn.org/news/2022-08-01/the-everglades-river-of-grass-takes-a-look-back-on-the-way-forward-to-restoration
https://youtu.be/AqC3QPkdeYg
Burning Sugar Cane Pollutes Communities of Color in Florida. Brazil Shows There's Another Way.
Florida's largest sugar companies say cane burns are safe and can't be stopped without economic harm. But Brazil has successfully transitioned away from the controversial practice, and experts there say the U.S. can follow their lead.
https://www.propublica.org/article/burning-sugar-cane-pollutes-communities-of-color-in-florida-brazil-shows-theres-another-way
The Last Burn Season
Sugarcane burning leaves communities vulnerable to air pollution, health risks and economic stress. It's time to forge a meaningful path to a long-overdue solution. Make this the Last Burn Season. Watch the video series as they debut here.
https://youtu.be/U-S3V2iExW8
https://youtu.be/QM20oeAkPMA
https://youtu.be/SBWfS_Xl6Go
Take action sign the petition to stop sugar cane burning in Florida.
https://www.everglades.org/sugarcane-burning/
Meet the women hunting giant pythons 'eating everything' in the Everglades
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>>>KENDALL, Fla. — Donna Kalil loves snakes. She's been fascinated by them since she was a kid living in the mountains of Venezuela's capital in the 1960s, where her father was stationed as an Air Force pilot.
"We'd play 'I spy,' and we'd use the snakes, birds and other animals that lived in the jungle," she said. "I developed a really sharp eye."
Now she kills them.
Not all snakes. Just Burmese pythons. They've become a scourge in the Everglades of south Florida since one was first spotted in the 1970s — ferocious, fecund and indiscriminate in their feeding behavior.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-09-12/two-women-are-top-burmese-python-hunters-in-the-everglades
Scientific expedition to study human impact on Florida Everglades
>>>A team of five that includes a female University of Florida professor as its lead scientist will embark Thursday on a dangerous trek across the Florida Everglades to assess the impact of humans on the world's largest subtropical wilderness. The group will retrace an 1897 canoe journey that was first completed by explorer and scientist Hugh de Laussat Willoughby.
Tracie Baker, an associate professor of environmental and global health in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions, has joined the team of experienced explorers and guides in a mission to sample and test for the same water constituents that Willoughby did more than a century ago. Willoughby's charts aided in creating the first accurate maps of the region, and his water sampling provided the baseline water chemistry for the Everglades.
"This expedition is primarily focused on applying modern scientific investigations to one of the planet's most important watersheds. However, we also hope to inspire future generations of scientists, explorers and all citizens to be better stewards of our shared environment," said Baker, a member of the UF Water Institute. "My work focuses on multidisciplinary research that seeks to bridge and improve human, animal and environmental health. The Willoughby Expedition will provide critical primary research into that work."
https://news.ufl.edu/2022/10/willoughby-expedition/
Follow along with this interactive website...
The Willoughby Expedition
An Over 130 Mile Coast to Coast Canoe Expedition Across the Largest Remaining Subtropical Wilderness in America
In recognition of the 125th Anniversary of Hugh Willoughby's daring Everglades crossing and the 75th Anniversary of the creation of Everglades National Park.
https://www.willoughbyexpedition.org/
Florida teen wins top prize by capturing 28 pythons in annual competition1,000 people participated in the annual challenge, which removed 231 unwanted pythons from the wildA 19-year-old south Florida man captured 28 Burmese pythons in a 10-day competition created to increase awareness about the threat the invasive snakes pose to state ecology.
Matthew Concepcion was among the 1,000 people from 32 states, Canada and Latvia who participated in the annual challenge, which removed 231 of the unwanted pythons, the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission said.
Concepcion was awarded the $10,000 Ultimate Grand Prize courtesy of the Bergeron Everglades Foundation. Dustin Crum won a $1,500 grand prize for removing the longest python, at just over 11ft.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/26/florida-pythons-captured-competition-miami
The Everglades, over the years and through your eyes - a Florida treasure turns 75
https://www.wlrn.org/environment/2022-12-09/the-everglades-over-the-years-and-through-your-eyes-a-florida-treasure-turns-75
The Everglades National Park celebrates its 75th anniversary this week. To mark the occasion, we take a look at stunning images that show the history of the park and its majestic beauty – including photographs from our readers and listeners.
The Everglades needs more fresh water moving south. This new project will help
The latest step in righting the wrongs done to the Everglades centuries ago kicked off Thursday morning with shovelfuls of ceremonial dirt flung into the air. The South Florida Water Management District announced a new project to uncork the flow of much-needed freshwater south, into the thirsty Florida Bay, by cutting holes into a long abandoned highway winding through Everglades National Park. "For Florida Bay, being last in line means for decades and decades and decades water was diverted," Shannon Estenoz, assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks for the U.S. Interior Department, told the crowd of federal, state and nonprofit Everglades restoration advocates gathered in the park. "You guys are bringing the Bay back to life, and that's an incredible human achievement."
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article271605912.html#storylink=cpy
Pythons are snacking on GPS-wearing opossums that give up their locations
After nearly five months of waiting, an alarm activated on Michael Cove's radio, a sign his study was working.
To hunt pythons, an invasive predator in the Florida Keys, Cove and fellow researchers have been strapping GPS collars to opossums and raccoons. When one was eaten by a python in September, researchers programmed the device to notify them from within the snake's stomach.
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/QKOMAE5JHVFTVARPUZVAAFTHDE.jpg)
https://wapo.st/3IdTzEv
Army Corps of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District break ground on the EAA Reservoir, a critical Everglades restoration project.
https://captainsforcleanwater.org/eaa-reservoir-groundbreaking/
Python invasion has exploded out of the Everglades and into nearly all of southern Florida, new map shows
Burmese pythons are too good at what they do — they're nearly undetectable to both humans and their prey, they barely need to move and when they do they're deadly. On top of that, they have lots of babies.
As a result, according to an ambitious new paper produced by the U.S. Geological Survey, their population has exploded in only 20 years from a few snakes at the southern tip of Everglades National Park to an invasion that envelops the southern third of Florida.
The reptile's "invasion front" has recently rolled through Broward and Palm Beach counties and is moving up the state. The current front encompasses the southern end of Lake Okeechobee and is pushing westward north of Fort Myers.
The study, which meticulously synthesizes several decades' worth of findings from more than 250 research initiatives, assesses where we stand in the python invasion and how we might slow it.
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https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/environment/fl-ne-usgs-python-assessment-20230304-r6l6v73l4beprazqjlgysgukyy-story.html
VIDEO: Alligator body slams, eats massive python in Florida Everglades
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/video-alligator-body-slams-eats-large-python-in-florida-everglades
Asian swamp eels spread in the Everglades. 'Potentially the worst species we've had yet'
For a crayfish in the Florida Everglades, its worst nightmare is three feet long, dark brown and pure muscle, with a mouth like a vacuum that sucks up nearly everything it can find — tiny fish, small shellfish, turtle eggs and frogs. It's called the Asian swamp eel. And while Floridians may be more used to seeing it grilled and doused in a sweet sticky sauce in sushi rolls, the slippery beasts have become an increasingly problematic invasive species in the delicate Everglades ecosystem. While these eels have been a presence in certain pockets of the park for decades, a newly released paper published in the journal Science of the Total Environment has — for the first time — put some hard numbers on the voracious appetite of these creatures. And it isn't pretty.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article273646460.html#storylink=cpy
A positive sign for Southwest Florida's environment: The population of wading birds in the Everglades is soaring to near-record numbers.
Wading birds going about their business in our swamps may not seem like a spectacular sight, but experts say we're lucky to see them.
"The biggest threat to wading birds in the Everglades [was] plume hunting," said Dr. Shawn Clem, director of research at Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.
Clem says the birds were nearly hunted to extinction for their feathers, but the Audubon Society stepped in to protect them. And the fight still isn't done.
https://winknews.com/2023/04/21/wading-birds-repopulating-everglades-in-near-record-numbers/
https://youtu.be/kVDPXIt7O2M
It's Toxic Slime Time on Florida's Lake Okeechobee
Huge green blooms are threatening wildlife, pets, people and cities. And algae season is only getting started.
For thousands of years, Lake Okeechobee pumped life into Florida's swampy interior. Summer rains swelled the shallow inland sea, creating seasonal overflows that sustained the Everglades and its alligators, panthers, spoonbills and snail kites.
But a vast re-engineering over the past century has transformed Okeechobee into something life-threatening as much as life-giving. Toxic algal blooms now regularly infest much of its 730-square-mile surface during the summer, producing fumes and waterborne poisons potent enough to kill pets that splash in the contaminated waters, or send their owners to the doctor from inhaling the toxins.
The Okeechobee mess, caused mainly by phosphorus-based agricultural fertilizers, festered out of the public consciousness for decades. But in recent summers the problem has become more dire. Climate change is making storms and rainfall more intense and less predictable, and last fall Hurricane Ian stirred up so much phosphorus that this summer is expected to be particularly bad.
Things get further complicated when lake levels climb so high that contaminated water must be released into canals — toward coastal cities like Fort Myers and Stuart — to protect the structural integrity of the 143-mile-long dike holding back the lake.
The coming weeks will offer a serious test.
Full NY Times Article (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/09/climate/florida-lake-okeechobee-algae.html?unlocked_article_code=UMRKJIkrLJpWTdJBqvAoyB2VKT1SSgG-WK6Xq6TCI_hN48VkLyr0M9nBAAueZBEn_A7GymI8dcKswOwfjcqJfhw-9XM_xNtZkqxP6-LWZN_mWs-iFgcTfSn1bbv8bCFKcvs2Zo8ACQSAKtyQDTYf3kmabVCwQLsz_24mKzrZ4JMX80gjXRUV8hx7Es8GvbcEjIeOTrQMwbRuY4Wk6O0I1JAP-wlvOqx3jcd33DlllMRaGF4Zld__o17ibFyEub0fBS928fHo--Z9MFHI6SiD2gX-uO1wlPMb9slv3rhiN28lvS8Y-Inz1z2SkqsYFViVrMv3zkUDMvNpXM5VTVEk7E0G9Gq-NICh83-yjk1w1_pvwsvncAOoqw&smid=url-share)
Python found pregnant with 60 eggs in Florida Everglades
Last week in the heart of the Everglades, a trapper and his dog embarked on a hunt that would unveil a hidden nest teeming with life. With skilled instincts, the dog sniffed out the concealed nest amidst the dense underbrush. Equipped with a camera, the trapper discovered around 60 eggs and a formidable python inside. Employing sheer bravery, he pulled the snake out by hand, marking another triumph in a battle that has been ongoing.
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watch the video here....
https://abc-7.com/news/environment/2023/07/10/python-found-pregnant-with-60-eggs-in-florida-everglades/
The longest Burmese python ever measured was caught in Florida this week: 'It was insane'
Hunters in South Florida caught the largest Burmese python ever measured, and the lengthy beast is being examined at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples.
The 19-foot python was caught in the Big Cypress National Preserve in eastern Collier County early Monday morning by Naples hunter and Ohio State University student Jake Waleri, who said the catch was a dream come true.
Watch the video of the capture
https://apple.news/AT7SHzVu2S_6Ra3XDnfZVQQ
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cushjz8ptbB/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
It's That time Again!
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Watch Donna capture pythons in the Everglades.
https://wapo.st/3L0MlWX
Donna Kalil was creeping toward the end of the levee, heading out of the swampy wilderness and back to civilization, when she spotted it. There along the canal, nearly invisible amid the brush, was the elusive tan and brown pattern she'd been after all night.
"Right there is one — python!" cried Kalil, 61, her voice rising above the honking frogs and chirping crickets of the Glades.
She threw her 1998 Ford Expedition (license plate: SNAKER) into park. Without a moment's hesitation, the professional snake hunter was out of the car and closing in on the creature — a scaly, fork-tongued Burmese python that, at seven feet long, was bigger than her.
Vibrant red insects return to Florida Everglades. They were once thought to be extinct
(https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/o5a3t5/picture279048024/alternates/LANDSCAPE_1140/butterfly1_fitted.png)
Vibrant red caterpillars have been found clustered on plants at Everglades National Park and closer inspection has revealed it is not another invasive species in South Florida. The insects are a species of native butterfly once thought to be extinct, according to the National Park Service.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article279047944.html
Florida pays python hunters to clear the Everglades. 10 years later, is it working?
The invasive snakes have reshaped the ecosystem, thanks to irresponsible owners dumping their pets in the swamp when they got too big or cumbersome to care for.
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A decade ago, Florida came up with a unique way to tackle the problem. It sponsored a weeklong hunt for the pythons, drawing in would-be reptile slayers from around the world hoping for a chance at the cash prize.
The original python challenge a decade ago netted a mere 68 pythons. This year, around a thousand registrants captured and killed 209 pythons.
On Friday, the state honored the winners of the 2023 competition, which lasted from Aug. 4 to the 13th. The big winner was Paul Hobbs, who hunts with his father (2021′s top prize winner) Tom, his 12-year-old son Dominic and his brother-in-law Austin Park. The team slayed 20 snakes in one week and took home the top prize of $10,000.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2023/09/15/florida-burmese-python-hunter-snake-everglades-invasive/
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Study: Alligators Are Eating Baby Pythons in the Everglades
According to a recent survey, some of the Everglades' native species are fighting back against the python invasion
Invasive pythons have been invading South Florida's swamps since the 1970s—and in recent years, the snakes have been spreading north. In the process, they've drastically reduced native mammal populations in the Everglades and elsewhere. But a new study is cause for optimism.
The study, which was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and other partners, looked at the mortalities of 19 baby pythons between May 2021 and February 2022. The goal of the research was to learn more about the life cycles of the invasive serpents—which are notoriously hard to track or monitor in the wild.
https://www.fieldandstream.com/conservation/alligators-are-eating-invasive-pythons-in-florida/
Hybrid Pythons Are Winning The Invasive Snake War In Florida Everglades
nterspecies breeding is creating a slippery problem in Florida's conflict with invasive pythons. A few years ago, scientists discovered that a significant number of the giant snakes stalking the Everglades are hybrids created as a result of breeding between two different species: Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) and Indian pythons (P. molurus). Remarkably, these hybrids appear to be even better-adapted to this new environment than their separate parent species.
https://www.iflscience.com/hybrid-pythons-are-winning-the-invasive-snake-war-in-florida-everglades-71189
That's a while lotta snake!
Florida men capture massive 17-foot, 200-pound invasive python in Everglades
Burmese python caught in Big Cypress National Preserve weighed 197.9 pounds, wildlife officials say
(https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/11/720/405/Florida-men-capture-massive-Burmese-python.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-men-capture-massive-17-foot-200-pound-invasive-python-everglades
https://youtu.be/J1FzrOXAEAY
https://youtu.be/K0GpZGkd9ks
Pollution taints even the most remote parts of Everglades, canoe journey reveals
One hundred and twenty five years ago, explorer Hugh Willoughby became the first non-Native American to cross the southern Everglades from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic. He traveled with a guide by canoe, and kept notes on water quality in his journal.
In 2022, a group of adventurers, including University of Florida scientist Tracie Baker, canoed the very same extremely remote 130-mile path. Along the way, Baker took much more sophisticated water tests at 12 sites spanning the width of the Everglades, from the Harney River at the Gulf of Mexico, to the Miami River.
Her goal was to not only compare water in 2022 with 1897, but to assess the intrusion of modern chemicals into some of the most remote wilderness in America.
Though her final report is still in the works and has yet to be peer-reviewed, Baker recently revealed some surprising data in her preliminary assessment.
https://www.wuwf.org/florida-news/2024-02-13/pollution-taints-even-the-most-remote-parts-of-everglades-canoe-journey-reveals
Quote from: Woolly Bugger on February 14, 2024, 15:51:24 PMPollution taints even the most remote parts of Everglades, canoe journey reveals
One hundred and twenty five years ago, explorer Hugh Willoughby became the first non-Native American to cross the southern Everglades from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic. He traveled with a guide by canoe, and kept notes on water quality in his journal.
In 2022, a group of adventurers, including University of Florida scientist Tracie Baker, canoed the very same extremely remote 130-mile path. Along the way, Baker took much more sophisticated water tests at 12 sites spanning the width of the Everglades, from the Harney River at the Gulf of Mexico, to the Miami River.
Her goal was to not only compare water in 2022 with 1897, but to assess the intrusion of modern chemicals into some of the most remote wilderness in America.
Though her final report is still in the works and has yet to be peer-reviewed, Baker recently revealed some surprising data in her preliminary assessment.
https://www.wuwf.org/florida-news/2024-02-13/pollution-taints-even-the-most-remote-parts-of-everglades-canoe-journey-reveals
Based on the principle that shit flows downhill, we should never be surprised by our findings in the lowest lying areas of a swamp.
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Word on the street is okeechobee gates will open this weekend b';
When man has finally destroyed it, we will be left with history, books, images, and a few other forms of memorabilia to remember it by. As the unwoke disallow the history, burn the books, the photos, and in anyway they can the destroy the other memories, perhaps some of the more permanent objects will survive.
Maybe my grandchildren will find this in their attic in the next century and wonder just what it represented.
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