The Everglades is one of the only places on Earth where freshwater alligators and saltwater crocodiles live in the same area. Visitors using canoes or airboats are likely to see large groups of wading birds like the wood stork or the great blue heron. It is even possible to see flamingos in the Everglades.

　　nps.gov

　　An American Alligator

　　Some visitors might enjoy riding bicycles through Shark Valley. Others may want to move slowly through shallow waters where they can see insects and wildlife up-close. Park guides also lead visitors on tram rides.

　　FAITH LAPIDUS: Experts say changes to the Everglades are threatening several different kinds of wildlife. They say the threats are a result of actions the United States government began more than fifty years ago, and settlers began even earlier.

　　The National Park Service says that early colonial settlers and land developers believed the Everglades had little value. The settlers had plans to remove water from the area. In the eighteen eighties, developers began digging canals to reduce water levels.

　　At the time, they did not understand the complexity of the Everglades' ecosystem. As a result, they were not prepared for all the work and caused environmental problems. The ecosystem, however, was able to survive.

　　STEVE EMBER: Even larger efforts to drain the wetlands continued between nineteen oh five and nineteen ten. Farms were built on large pieces of land. This led to increased development, with more people moving to the Everglades and also more visitors.

　　More changes came in nineteen forty-eight. At that time, Congress approved the Central and South Florida Project. As part of the plan, the Army Corps of Engineers built roads, canals and water-control systems throughout South Florida.

　　The aim of the project was to provide water and flood protection for developed areas and agriculture. Workers built a huge system of waterways and pumping stations to control the overflow of Lake Okeechobee, north of the Everglades.

　　FAITH LAPIDUS: Today, fifty percent of South Florida's early wetland areas no longer exist. Populations of wading birds have been reduced by ninety percent. Whole populations of animals are in danger of disappearing. The endangered creatures include the manatee, the Miami blackhead snake, the wood stork and the Florida panther.

　　In recent years, environmental experts have learned about the damage to the Everglades. They say the balance of nature there has been destroyed.

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　　STEVE EMBER: About ten years ago, Congress approved a plan to restore and improve the Everglades. Federal, state and other organizations are partners in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. The project is expected to cost about twelve billion five hundred million dollars.

　　Early in two thousand ten, work began on the Picayune Strand Restoration Project. A goal of the project is to re-establish natural water flow across more than twenty-two thousand hectares of land. Workers removed water from that area in the early nineteen sixties. At the time, the goal was to develop the land of Picayune Strand for homes. However, the development harmed healthy wetlands.