Charlie and Carole Crist took a look at nature's metric of Everglades health last week when the Governor and Florida's First Lady took an airboat tour of water conservation areas. Governor Crist and his wife saw a "vast number of birds" during her first visit to the nation's most productive wetland.
Charlie and Carole have now seen what makes the Everglades such a special place for Floridians and tourists alike. Wading bird populations are off 90% in the ecosystem but are plentiful in some places. Sadly, Audubon scientists report that wading bird nesting continues to decline in the parts of the Everglades where huge colonies were once found.
Only by gaining land for storage, treatment and conveyance of water from the north to south and getting large quantities of water past the Tamiami Trail will the parched Southern Everglades again support vast wading bird colonies.
