Passage I

The Book That Helped Save the Everglades

[1]

Few books have been more influential in the U.S. environmental movement as Marjory Stoneman Douglas's The Everglades: River of Grass. Published in 1947, the book educated the nation about the dangers facing one of the most fragile ecosystems and said its author's emergence as a famous conservation crusader.

[2]

Douglas had moved to Florida when she was twenty-five, working first to a newspaper reporter and then as a freelance writer. (5) In 1942 an editor who also wrote novels asked her to write an in-depth report about the distinct features of the Miami River, a topic she broadened to include the Everglades. For five years she participated in a study of the great wetlands that once covered millions of acres in southern Florida, learning about their complex biology, geology, and history. (8)

[3]

The more Douglas studied the region, the more she became inspired by the beauty to be found in nature. Though a portion of the ecosystem had been preserved in 1934 as Everglades National Park, the remainder faced relentless human pressures. She watched in growing dismay. As swampy areas were drained and tracts of houses replaced stands of saw grass.

[4]

In publishing The Everglades, Douglas offered an eloquent rallying cry to defend a little-understood ecosystem. Due to the publicity of attracting public interest in her book, Douglas was able to take her message directly to the people of Florida, giving countless speeches about the Everglades' importance.

[5]

Thanks in part to Douglas's book, the Everglades are now regarded as a national treasure. Though still threatened, they form a very fragile ecosystem. In recognition of her work, Douglas later received the nation's civilian highest honor, the presidential Medal of Freedom, and many conservation awards. Her most significant legacy, however, remains the intricate web of water, grass, and wildlife that her book helped to protect.