everglades

Wetlands are one of nature’s most productive ecosystems. They clean and recharge groundwater; reduce the damaging impacts of floods; enhance wildlife habitat; sequester carbon; and create diverse recreation opportunities such as hunting, fishing, birdwatching and canoeing.

Thousands of landowners voluntarily take big and small actions every day to protect, restore and enhance wetlands and wildlife habitat. Seventy-five percent of the nation’s wetlands are located on private and tribal lands.

Vice President Joe Biden was in Florida this week touring the Everglades and touting the benefits of federally funded restoration projects to restore the historical flow of water from the Northern Everglades Watershed to Everglades National Park. He brought his granddaughter along on the airboat tour of the Everglades area, where they were joined by U.S. Senator Bill Nelson and U.S. Representative Alcee Hastings. I was honored to be asked to represent the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) at the event.

Over 100 years ago, public agencies and private landowners began to transform central and south Florida. Then an extensive system of water management implemented in the 1930s and 1940s, including irrigation, flood control, canals and other structures, interrupted historic water flows to Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades.

By Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Yesterday, I had the amazing opportunity to survey the northern Everglades, a vast watershed of incredible beauty. USDA prides itself on protecting natural resources across our nation and the Fisheating Creek Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) project offers us another opportunity to do just that.