Wood Stork
Latin: Mycteria americana
Audubon has worked for over a century to protect and restore America's Everglades. Famous for its abundance of bird life, the Everglades has faced many challenges. From the murder of Audubon Warden Guy Bradley by plume hunters as he fought to protect some of the Everglades’ iconic species, to the nearly devastating changes from the twentieth-century efforts to ditch, dike, and drain the watershed for development and agriculture, the Everglades is only now beginning to recover.
The most ambitious ecosystem restoration plan ever attempted is underway to provide the River of Grass with clean freshwater in the right place at the right time. Audubon's work to restore the Everglades is focused on implementing the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) and other restoration projects to achieve ecological benefits and restore the characteristic abundance of wildlife. A great example is the 1,000-acre marsh and prairie restoration underway at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary; the heart of the Western Everglades.
Our science and policy staff works throughout the ecosystem to ensure that sound science underpins plans for restoration and that projects stay focused on increasing target bird populations as a measure of success. The Audubon Florida state office, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, and Florida’s 45 chapters work with other partners and local, state, and federal decision-makers to build widespread support for this effort.
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Here are some of the overall goals of Audubon's Everglades work:
The Northern Everglades encompasses the Lake Okeechobee watershed, the 3.3 million acre part of the ecosystem that serves as the headwaters of the Everglades.
Lake Okeechobee is the liquid heart of the Central Everglades.
The Everglades Science Center at Tavernier was established in the Florida Keys in 1938.
Experience the heart of the Western Everglades.
One of Audubon Florida’s greatest contributions for the Everglades is our research and monitoring that provides information about some of the most important issues related to the health of the ecosystem.
Get the latest news from the River of Grass in this bi-annual review.
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