Everglades

Daryl Thompson scours the Everglades and similar areas worldwide for natural elements that he is convinced can be used to treat ailments.

Drainage has exposed the fertile soils of the Everglades Agricultural Area, a region responsible for much of the nation’s sugar cane.

Explosive growth continues to pressure Florida’s natural resources, and climate change will drive more development inland. The hope is to push back against the impact.

A coordinated series of efforts over 10 years to eradicate the spectacled caiman from the Western Everglades resulted in the removal of 251 of the creatures.

The company is appealing the ruling that no oil is likely to be found in an area that is critical for the endangered Florida panther.

An influential foundation contends that Tom Van Lent stole “trade secrets.” Environmentalists question why such “secrets” exist, as work unfolds on a controversial reservoir touted by Gov. Ron DeSantis as the “crown jewel of Everglades restoration.”

A judge sided with the Everglades Foundation after it sued its former chief scientist saying Thomas Van Lent took or destroyed proprietary information.

Even as the $21 billion effort unfolds, officials realize that its water infrastructure cannot contend with rising seas, violent storms and Florida’s non-stop influx of residents.

The House and Senate began putting together budget proposals to address such issues as Everglades restoration and land acquisition.

“Are we there yet? No. We are not fully restored. But, we are trending in the right direction,” says Melodie Naja, National Park Service scientist.

The latest nesting count for Everglades wading birds found the birds had the second-best nesting season since counting began in 1996.

An ambitious new paper produced by the U.S. Geological Survey found that the python 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.