When the News Leader last reported on Everglades National Parks 2 major projects in December of 2020, both the Flamingo Lodge and the renovation of the Flamingo Visitors Center were projected to be completed in the Fall and Summer of 2021 respectively.

Updating our water infrastructure to restore the historic freshwater flow through the Everglades is crucial for our future.

Florida’s economy runs on clean water, and the health of our water – which is sourced from the Everglades – directly benefits everyone in South Florida, including every Homestead resident.

Homestead residents might think of the Everglades only as their neighboring Everglades National Park. Many may not realize that the Everglades ecosystem is three times larger than the park’s boundaries, and that it supplies their drinking water.

Get Out and Explore Your Backyard - The Joys and Wonders of Everglades National Park!

A study led by UF/IFAS scientists that focused on the threatened American Crocodile maps out the status of their population over the last 40 years in response to changes in the Florida Everglades. Key findings demonstrate that increased salinity in the water that crocodiles navigate influenc…

Editor’s note: Brush fires are part of living in South Florida. Last week, our area experienced the effects of a stubborn brush fire that burned for almost a week. It consumed 13,000 acres of vegetation, spread smoke and ash for miles, and closed Card Sound Road to all traffic for two days. …

In late April, the National Park Service (NPS) will kick off a $6.3 million project to complete repairs to areas of Biscayne National Park significantly damaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017.

I would be willing to bet a large portion of my children’s college fund that if I asked visitors of Everglades National Park to name a type of animal found there, a baleen whale would not rank in the top 50 answers given. And yet, in late January of 2019, a baleen whale showed up in park waters.

Reconstructing Tamiami Trail to restore water flow to Everglades National Park

The Shark Valley entrance to Everglades National Park, located off Tamiami Trail, offers park visitors the opportunity to see birds and other wildlife up close.

The Florida National Parks Association (FNPA) is continuing its campaign to support Everglades National Park with the new Florida Bay Forever specialty license plate.

This is the third article in a three-part series on the recent historic water levels.

Water is the lifeblood of the Everglades. I know this to be true, and I tell other people about it a lot as a science communicator at Everglades National Park. I will admit, though, that until recently, our other mantra related to Everglades Restoration, “getting the water right,” seemed too…

This is the first of a three-part series on the recent historic water levels.  Stay tuned for a deeper dive into what effects the high water levels are having on the park’s natural resources.

Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks will waive their entrance fee on six days in 2021.

Revered around the world, Everglades National Park, is showcasing new facilities for adventurers of all ages.

Effects of the coronavirus pandemic on state tourism decreased in October, but recovery for Florida’s vital revenue-generating industry is still at best a year away, according to an association study.

In support of America’s military members and families, U.S. Secretary of the Interior David L. Bernhardt signed Secretary’s Order 3387 at the Iowa Gold Star Museum in October, announcing that Gold Star Families and U.S. military veterans will be granted free access to national parks, nationa…

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) applauded the announcement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District that it had awarded four construction contracts, totaling more than $81 million, for ecosystem restoration in South Florida.

Your help is needed to tell the stories of one of the best preserved Nike Hercules Missile Bases remaining in the United States.

As of Aug. 28, the new Combined Operational Plan provides the framework for delivering water in southern Florida. Three ways South Floridians will benefit:

New Report shows visitor spending supports more than 3,200 jobs in South Florida

Over the course of the last few months we have watched our way of life change dramatically as COVID-19 has forced people to learn to live much more cautiously. And yet, with all that is happening, some things continue on as they always have.

Flames crackling through landscape close to the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center in the Everglades National Park and smoke visible from a distance are not always cause for alarm. Tuesday, February 4, 2020, was another day of fires deliberately set as a planned prescribed burn; an important aspec…

The Royal Palm area at Everglades National Park is on fire. Smoke fills the air, and wind blows burnt plant debris up into the sky and, sometimes, into people’s faces.

The National Park Service (NPS) South Atlantic-Gulf Regional Director Robert A. Vogel announced the selection of Penelope Del Bene as the new superintendent of Biscayne National Park, located in southern Florida. Del Bene will begin her new assignment in early February.

Sierra Club Florida Chapter Director Frank Jackalone warned Friday that time is running short as the state faces the consequences of climate change.

Everglades National Park just had a 40th anniversary on October 24. It’s one anniversary we’d rather not celebrate. That’s the day in 1979 when the first recorded python was caught in the park near Everglades Safari Park on Tamiami Trail.

Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell brought together many points of view to expedite the cause of water quality, quantity and management throughout Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

Florida will pay $2.4 million to a sugar grower as part of an effort to clean and shift water south from Lake Okeechobee through the Everglades.

Wednesday, on the one year anniversary of the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Storage Reservoir project being authorized by Congress, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL-18) urged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to address “significant and ongoing concerns” that the…

It’s a sweltering mid-August morning, and the helicopter circles 50 feet over the sawgrass. As the aircraft turns towards the left, I see my first Everglades alligator nest.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R) urged Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt to support the expedited completion of the Tamiami Trail Next Steps project. The letter asks for the Secretary’s assistance in ensuring that National Park Service design work related to the project is prioritized fo…

Now that the kids are heading back to school, join Biscayne National Park for a Marine Debris Cleanup. The park cleanups are scheduled during the day, so there is plenty of time to drop the kids off at school, join the volunteer fun, and be home in time for homework.

Seemingly casual connections can have amazing “ripple effects” at unexpected times, in unexpected ways.

Did you know that part of Florida Bay is located within the boundaries of Everglades National Park and that it comprises about one-third of the park?

Everglades National Park biologist Zach Fratto has many people’s dream job, and he knows it. Fratto’s work takes him out on Florida Bay often. I was lucky enough to tag along recently.

You never know what you will see when you are out in South Florida taking nature and landscape photos. Last week I was very lucky to get to see and photograph an endangered Florida Panther.

I was invited to go out on Florida Bay in early December 2017. I was pumped and felt like I hit the jackpot. I was just asked to go on a boat for work for the first time in my life.

Biscayne National Park, in partnership with the Biscayne National Park Institute, will host volunteer marine debris cleanups beginning on Tuesday, June 18 and each Tuesday thereafter through November 12.

New report shows visitor spending supports more than 2,000 jobs in South Florida

As the summer vacation and travel seasons opens, U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced that visitor spending in communities near national parks in 2018 resulted in a $40.1 billion benefit to the nation’s economy and supported 329,000 jobs.

Additional federal funding could be coming for Everglades restoration. The White House has revised a budget request to Congress and is seeking to provide $200 million to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for Everglades work, a boost of $137 million from an earlier proposal.

National Park Week --- April 20 - 28.  Fee Free Day is Saturday, April 20. Park entrance is free for all visitors.       It’s National Park Week and as part of the celebration, we’re highlighting park programs that help us meet the park service mission of preserving the nation’s natural and …

According to the nationally renowned Expedia AARP Travel Center, Everglades National Park is ranked #2 in the United States for “Scenic Bird Watching Destinations.”

Scientists with the University of Florida and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have found that Burmese pythons are occupying bird nesting areas in the Everglades, suggesting that pythons are attracted to wading birds where they breed.

Here in Everglades National Park, we owe a lot to women. After all, women first led the effort to preserve this special place back in the early 1900s. Female conservationists and scientists have continued that legacy as caretakers and defenders of the park. Here, we highlight just a few wome…