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Everglades to be put back on U.N. endangered list?
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is meeting with a task force charged with overseeing the restoration of the Florida Everglades this week. He intends to tell them that the Obama administration will ask the United Nations World Heritage Committee to put the national park back on its endangered list when the committee meet in Spain this week. Two years ago, in what has been viewed as a controversial decision, the Bush administration requested that the U.N. remove the Everglades from the list. At the time, the Department of the Interior defended the decision by citing progress being made in protecting the region and the species that lived there, despite the fact that the restoration program had failed to meet milestones, and was billions over budget.
Despite the issues effecting the park, the Everglades remains a popular tourist destination. There are more than 156 miles of canoe/kayak and hiking trails, with 47 designated campsites, inside the 2500 square miles of subtropical forest that define the parks boundaries. The Park Service reports that over one million visitors experience the Everglades each year.
Gallery: 10 tourist destinations with a funny name
Filed under: Activism, Hiking, Learning, Paddling, North America, United States, Camping, Ecotourism
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Sonny Jul 3rd 2009 8:15PM
????Why do we have to depend on the UN for anything..they are anti US and we cannot trust them for anything. We are a sovereign nation and do not need or want the UN for anything. I live about 50 miles from the Everglades and can assure you that the 1 million visitor number is terribly over stated.
Doc Jul 3rd 2009 8:24PM
Sonny - Your right wing is showing ... The UN does many things which require international cooperation such as UNICEF and other food programs, providing medical and guardian assistance to nations under duress not only from war but also natural disasters, and many more, including the establishment of World Heritage Sites which are respected world-wide. They are not "anti-US" - we're an active participant. Secondly, the Everglades stretches from Orlando to Everglades City - about 400 miles - so you're 50 miles from what part? The Glades are a treasure and I, for one, am very glad the President holds this beautiful place in much higher esteem than the greedy, evil Bushies.
reidgator Jul 3rd 2009 11:41PM
DOc , you are an idiot! Frist, you did not really address the question: What is the purpose or value of putting the Evergaldes back on this list? What was accomplished by the glades being on the list in the first place? What harm was done when the UN removed the Everglades two years ago? Is the UN actually going to help with the problem? Second, while you stated some truthful points about the UN, none of that suggests the UN has or will do anything for the Everglades! Third, the glades do NOT run to Orlando! Last, if you do not recognize the "anti-US" sentimnet in the UN, you are COMPLETE IDIOT or a COMPLETE LIAR!
Lynn Jul 4th 2009 1:46AM
I lived in Florida for 20 years very close to the Everglades then greedy builders starting building MALLS and DEVELOPMENTS into the Everglades and the slowly are disappearing. The Everglades SHOULD BE PUT ON THE ENDANGERED LIST and be protected but someone should STOP THE OVERDEVELOPMENT already. I lived on a dirt road and Palm Beach County decided they need to 4 lane pave it, make it a highway to connect MORE DEVELOPMENTS????? and I was 5 miles from the Everglades........used to by my Christmas Tree on the corner which is now ANOTHER MALL, like Florida needs another MALL in Wellington..........
tony Jul 3rd 2009 8:41PM
screw the everglades. its a waste of land. but ok let them alligators eat the florida people lol. i for one say its a waste of our money. billons what a f laugh and waste.
sue Jul 4th 2009 6:06AM
Screw you bud I live here in Florida and spent many a day out in the glades.I bet you come from the city.Come on down and check it out that is if you are not scared
charles Jul 3rd 2009 8:58PM
intercourse the un! first one of those USA haters I see will get his carbon foot print erased!
Roan Jul 3rd 2009 9:09PM
Where do you get the idea that the Everglades runs to Orlando? Get north of Okeechobee and you have nice praire cattle country. Nothing like the the swamps. Go a little west and you hit the sand barge country along route 27. The only resemblance of the Everglades is when the Army Corps of Engineers decided to reroute the Kissimmee River and that was a big mistake and a cost of tax payers money. Then they went and put it back to its natural way. The Everglades is doing just fine without a bunch of city people screwing with it.
Joe Jul 3rd 2009 9:46PM
Amen Brother. The UN does nothing for humanity or mankind, cost us money to have it on our soil. Nature does what nature does and no one is going to change that. Everglades is going nowhere and man isn't doing anything to change that.
Felipe A Jul 4th 2009 12:31AM
Actually the problem is people ARE messing with it and pushing the ity further inwards. The boundary line keeps getting pushed as Miami politicians line their pockets from the deal. If placed back in the list, these damn crocks in power done here might think twice about messing with a thing labeled endangered by a world organization. The everglades needs protecting. Without it, South Florida will end up like New Orleans did during the hurricanes. The Evergaldes is our land protector and water collector. Without it, South Florida is screwed. So yeah put it back on....should have never been removed to begin with.
Sean Jul 5th 2009 8:31AM
The UN does not actually do anything but put out notices of its intent to do something. It is run by corrupt individuals that only think of lining their pockets and the hell with everything else. If we want the Everglades on the Endangered List then we can put it there. We dont need to ask anyone else since guess what its out land. If we would just leave it alone it will get better all by its lonesome.
Carol Lowery Jul 3rd 2009 9:35PM
Whats hurting the Everglades now is the pythons that are killing everything in their path including the alligators. They need to elimate non-native species. It's time we quit letting people buy non-native animals at pet stores and then they release them when they get bored with them.
fats Jul 3rd 2009 9:45PM
I love these people like doc running off at the mouth with no clue of what they are talking about.
I go in the Glades often on my airboat and love them. Slowly the pythons are taking over and the frog hunting getting less and less.
I live 150 miles north of Orlando and have to travel that far south of Orlando and a little farther to find the Glades, where do you live "doc" dumbass?
Sally Jul 3rd 2009 9:55PM
The Everglades or River of Grass is actually a very shallow, wide river that runs from Lake Okeechobee south to the southren tip of Fl. Carol Lowery is very correct. The area is being overrun with exotic species, not just animals but also plants. I heard one wildlife officer in South Fl. state that half the Amazon Rain forest was now in the Everglades. I know he exagerated to make a point but it's close to the truth.
Kevin Jul 3rd 2009 10:18PM
If Florida has its way..... they'll allow developers to plant subdivisions and shopping malls on every square inch of the Everglades.... just like they have with the rest of the state.
kim Jul 3rd 2009 11:52PM
DOC..... Do you live anywhere near the glades, because I live in naples, very close.... My family and I camp, fish, airboat and drive buggies out there, it is beautiful, but i really believe we can fix this ourselves.... right or left wing, why does it matter, lets fix it instead of BS about it!!!!
Marsha Jul 3rd 2009 10:41PM
The Everglades are a part of Florida and our landscape...it should listed as endangered with the United Nations and paid for by them as well. The United States seems to be responsible for the rest of the planet and what ails...it is about time someone to come here and help us during this economic crunch.
As for Afghanistan, who really cares? I know I don't and never will...Let's worry about the United States JUST FOR ONCE! I am sick of worrying about every other nation but our own...
KAREN Jul 3rd 2009 11:37PM
I'm not from florida but I visit. Have yet to go that far south, but I feel that people should leave things alone and stop messing with nature. I also agree that exoctic animals should be left in THEIR ENVIRONMENT.
A. Marshall Jul 3rd 2009 11:46PM
Reidgator.........right on, It is all about Obama running for world leader and he thinks this will help him. Doc must think he will get some money out of the deal.........there are two crooks and idiots!
Jason Jul 4th 2009 12:25AM
Sonny, Iraq could have said the same thing about being a sovereign nation, it didn't stop Bush from doing whatever the hell he pleased. Get this through your empty head: you don't dictate to other countries, demanding they allow the UN to make decisions for them, and then refuse to obey UN decisions yourself. That's not how it works.
And I live close to the Everglades as well, and '1 million' is a generic figure, but it's damn close either way. There are hordes of visitors to the site every year, and too many are redneck trash who only serve to worsen the environmental status as they are not intelligent enough to not throw their cigarettes and beer cans throughout the landscape.
And Tony, the Everglades has far, far more to offer than you every will. Why not get rid of you instead? I'd pray to have an alligator eat you, you pathetic piece of trash.