Everglades National Park was established in 1947 to preserve the unique Everglades environment after many attempts to drain it. The park covers over 1.5 million acres of land containing diverse ecosystems like sawgrass prairies, mangrove forests, and Florida Bay. It is home to over 1,000 plant species and 360 bird species. The area has a long history of human settlement by Native Americans and later drainage for agriculture. However, the park faces challenges like reduced freshwater flows and invasive species that threaten its delicate ecosystems.

1. Everglades National Park
By Trevor Hendy
Have you ever visited Everglades National Park? It's in South Florida and is
home to many unique environments and wildlife. The area also has an interesting
history. You can do many cool things there like kayaking, fishing, and slogging -
wading through shallow water in search of wildlife. Here are some interesting
things about the park, its wildlife, history, and challenges.
Everglades National Park was authorized in 1934, but not established until
1947. It was created to preserve and protect the Everglades' unique
environment. Many people had tried to drain the Everglades. The park's
boundaries cover only about 1/5 of the actual Everglades wilderness. Even so, the
park covers 1,506,500 acres of land. The boundaries start at Florida Bay in the
south and go up to the Ten Thousand Islands in the northwest and the Shark
River Slough in the northeast.
The park has many natural features, animals, and plants. The park has two
seasons: the wet season in the summer and the dry season in the winter. Half of
the park is under saltwater. The park has many ecosystems including hardwood
hammocks, pinelands, mangrove forests, freshwater sloughs, and the ocean, in
Florida Bay. It also has vast prairies of sawgrass. Sawgrass is a grass that grows
in water and has sharp teeth on its edges. For this reason, some natives called
the Everglades "Pa-Hay-Okee" or "grassy waters".There are also many other
species of wildlife. There are over 1,000 plant species. The park is also known for
its exotic birdlife, there are over 360 types of species.
The park and area have an interesting history. The area was first settled by
two Indian groups: the Calusa in the southwest and the Tequesta in the east. The
Spanish arrived here in the 1500's. By the 1800's, most of the Tequesta and
Calusa had been killed by European diseases. In the early 1900's, people came to
drain the Everglades for farmland. Birds in the region were hunted for their
plumes for hats in this period, too. Some bird species were hunted almost to
extinction. People also were living out in the Everglades. They were called
gladesmen. Gladesmen were husbands and sons who lived in almost complete
isolation in the Everglades and survived by hunting and fishing. The park was
then established in 1947. Everglades National Park became a Biosphere Reserve
in 1976 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
The Everglades environment, including the park, has faced challenges although
not as much as before. One thing is that freshwater is supplied from Lake
Okeechobee at the north part of the Everglades. However, the lake has been
dammed too much, so less freshwater is reaching the Everglades. Saltwater has
also risen up more than before from the Gulf of Mexico. There are many invasive
species in the park. Over 20% of the plant species are nonnative. Some of these
include Latherleaf and Brazilian Pepper. There are also invasive animals like

2. Burmese Pythons. However, the park has been doing better. It was removed from
UNESCO's World Heritage in Danger in 2007.
Those are some interesting things about Everglades National Park. It would be
great to go visit. There are many things to see like the plants and animals. So, if
you go to Florida, you may want to check out Everglades National Park.