Everglades

Call them the Everglades influencers. They're the ones who wade deep into pristine sloughs and isolated cypress stands and come face-to-face with all sorts of amazing wildlife, all while boasting a major following that runs into the millions.

He said he will ask President-elect Donald Trump to give Florida authority over federal money. The proposed 2025-26 state budget includes $805 million for Everglades restoration and $330 million for targeted water quality projects.

For decades, largescale engineering projects for development and agriculture drained and partitioned south Florida's Everglades, a vast wetlands landscape home to endangered and threatened species and a vital source of drinking water for millions of Floridians. A plan approved by Congress in 2000 has aimed to undo some of the damages, but development, water quality and climate change are ongoing challenges.

A captive breeding program for the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow could increase the number of wild birds and help manage disappearing nesting habitat that could flood under Everglades restoration.

‘We know climate change is affecting other species, so we need to get ready to see how it affects the species we have here in the Everglades.’

Instead of prioritizing flood control above all else, the strategy is designed to balance all the needs of the watershed. “This plan marks a cultural shift on the part of the Army Corps of Engineers.”

The Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual — LOSOM , a set of guidelines on how, when, and where water will be released from Lake Okeechobee — was made official this week

The annual Florida Python Challenge invites participants to catch and kill invasive Burmese pythons, which feed on the state's native animal population.

The area has lost nearly 6 feet of soil in the past century through a process called subsidence. One way to slow down this subsidence and preserve the nutrient-rich soil is to flood the area during Florida’s rainy season and use the fields to grow rice.

The new plan to manage the water flow from Lake Okeechobee throughout the Everglades is making its final rounds among various higher-ups before expected approval in the fall.

May is the beginning of flamingo nesting season, and researchers are crossing their fingers that the large, apparently healthy population could start popping out fledglings on Florida soil for the first time in a century.

Their proposal comes amid continued interest in expanding oil production within the Big Cypress National Preserve, an Everglades wilderness they consider sacred.