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DIVERSITY IN THE EVERGLADES
By Daniel B. Beard,
Assistant Wildlife Technician
After eight years of investigations, counter
investigations, and super investigations, the boundaries of the proposed
Everglades National Park in Southern Florida remain substantially the
same as they were originally set up. It may appear odd that no radical
boundary changes have been made in such flat country-land that is only a
few feet above sea level, possibly eight or ten feet at its dizziest
height. Maybe, if I can describe the terrain along the three hundred or
so miles of boundaries it will be possible to get an inkling of the
diversified nature of the ground, level as it is in the proposed
park
The place where the boundary cuts across the Tamiami
Trail about 30 miles west of Miami would make a good starting point.
This is State property. The country is a flat expanse of sawgrass
prairie, dotted. by occasional hammocks which give the appearance of
islands. Under natural conditions, the grasses and sedges of the prairie
grow almost shoulder-high, and the ground is soggy marl covered by a
skim of organic soil. The little hammocks have more fertile soil than
the surrounding prairies and support a luxuriant growth of cocoplum,
butttonwood and other trees, shrubs, and airplants Seminole Indians
build their thatched villages on 'glade's hammocks and sometimes plant
pumpkins bananas, sugar cane and other essential crops. There the women
can be high, by a foot or so, and reasonably dry while the men hunt
alligators, deer, and otters or go spearing fish in the winding
waterways from their dugout canoes
About 25 miles south of the starting point the park
boundary skirts Royal Palm State Park to include that area. Thanks to a
wet slough to the east of Paradise Key in the State Park the vegetation
growing on the Key has been relatively free from the ravages of fire On
the pitted oolitic limestone of Paradise Key, a tropical jungle has
developed with the tousled heads of royal palms protruding high above
the forest canopy. Here are found plants that could keep the most
ambitious botanis busy for years-gumbo limbo, blolly, wild coffee.
bustic, stopper mastic poisonwood, paradise tree, moon vine, strangler
fig quantities of rare epiphitic orchids, and many others. Nearby are
the piney woods of the Everglades Keys.
As we move southward, the grassy prairies thin out
and little, round hammocks become more numerous in a land of flat, gray
marl. Small red mangrove trees with arching roots indicate the proximity
of salt water. We are approaching an almost unexplored wilderness of
tidal lakes and estuaries where the American Crocodile is making its
last stand. The park boundary makes an abrupt swing to the east near the
southern coast of the mainland, crosses over a shallow bay to the
northern end of Key Largo and, strangely enough, goes right out into the
ocean for a few miles. The reason for this can be quickly ascertained by
peering into the water through a glass-bottomed bucket. There is a shelf
extending out from Key Largo for several miles which is the remnant of
an old, submerged coral reef. At the outer edge of the shelf, a new,
barrier coral reef is forming. Through the bucket, one can see waving
gorgonias, lumpy coral heads, sponges, and the tropical fishes of the
Atlantic marine gardens.
The boundary cuts back across Key Largo again after
following the edge of the coral reef for a few miles, thus including a
section of that key. That will bring into the Everglades Park an example
of West Indian jungle vegetation growing on the "core" of Key Largo and
flanked on both sides by impenetrable mangrove swamps.
From Key Largo, the boundary follows southward along
the inner edge of the Upper Florida Keys as far as the end of Lower
Matecumbe. Then it swings off to the northwest across the water to a
point three miles from Cape Sable, the southernmost spot on the United
States mainland. This means that Florida Bay is included in the park.
The Bay appears on the map to be just an expanse of water dotted with
little islands. It is a vast expanse of milky, blue water and mangrove
keys, but the water is only a few feet deep. Smart boatmen carry shovels
with them and get out to dig a channel every so often. The marl from the
mainland is being continually carried into Florida Bay and precipitated
on the bottom and in shoal areas, mangroves start to form small keys. By
including this shallow body of water, the Service will obtain the entire
eastern section of the rare Great White Herons' range, the only good
rookery of Roseatte Spoonbills in Florida, nesting areas for White
Ibises, Florida Cormorants, and other birts. It also is the home of the
Manatee or sea cow and Crocodile, and a bully spot to catch yellowtail,
redfish and snook.
Wandering White Pelicans spend their winter vacations
at Cape Sable, the "cape of sand", backed by hurricane-swept mangrove
swamps and tidal flats. Thousands of shorebirds and waterfowl, many Bald
Eagles, White Ibises, Wood Ibises, Egrets and Herons haunt the areas as
well as raccoons and elusive Florida Cougars. Three miles out in the
Gulf of Mexico from Cape Sable, the boundary continues in a
northwesterly direction. It passes the labyrinth at the mouth of the
Shark River where recently subsided land has left a maze of islands
through which only the most experienced navigator can pilot. Northward,
the boundary line goes by great mangrove and buttonwood forests rising
like a cliff from the water's edge. Major rivers draining the Everglades
empty into the Gulf along the western coast the Harney, Lostman, Broad,
Chattam, and others. At the headwaters of the rivers are mysterious
lakes and inlets where great rookeries of wading birds are located.
Little mangrove keys begin to appear about 40 miles
north of Cape Sable. They represent the southern fringe of that unique
country known as the Ten Thousand Islands, For about 15 miles more, the
park boundary follows along three miles from shore. It then dips to the
northeast through the mangrove keys joining the mainland at the mouth of
the Turner River. Some large shell mounds left by aboriginal inhabitants
are included in the park before the boundary swings to a point a few
miles north of the Tamiami Trail. The block of land both north and south
of the Trail is part of the Big Cypress region. This is favorite hunting
territory where Florida Cougar, the great Everglades Black Bear, Bobcat,
Deer, Turkey, Swallow-tailed Kite, and other rare birds and mammals are
found.
As the park boundary follows eastward the Tamiami
Trail, the above cypress gives way slowly to open prairies of the
Everglades. The line then angles south through sawgrass prairies to the
point of beginning.
Why include the region north of the Tamiami Trail?
One of the many reasons is water. With water as the basis for all life
in the proposed park, any deflection of flow north of the Trail would
cause profound ecological changes throughout much of the park area. A
drainage canal along the Tamiami Trail does this to some extent at
present, but it may be corrected. With water at a premium since drainage
operations were under taken at Lake Okeechobee, control of the cypress
and Everglades country north of the Trail is essential.
So, by following the boundaries of the proposed
Everglades National Park, we find that a country as flat as the
proverbial pancake still can have a surprising variation in the
landscape. It remains a wilderness in habited by Seminoles, a few
wandering trappers, some fishermen, and that is about all. The nature of
the land prohibits human intrusion except by boat or the few existing
roads. If fire is kept out, hunting is stopped, and water levels are
maintained, the Everglades National Park is capable of becoming the most
amazing wildlife sanctuary in the United States. Seed stock for almost
every native species of bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian, and plant
still is left and, with the fertility of the tropics, can soon start the
return to primitive conditions.
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