I was fortunate enough to be taken on a tour of the Everglades. It was my first time on an airboat and I was taken to the Loxahatcheee National Wildlife Refuge. It was an incredible experience. My new friend, Rolf, told me a bit about the threats and pressures faced by the Everglades. Invasive species impacts and conservation often have complicated politics surrounding them, which, as in Hawaii, the Everglades reflects and captures. There are issues with water, land management, conflicts with agriculture and development, pollution and climate change. One of the more obvious changes to the Everglades, very visible as we went deeper into Loxahatchee was the impact of pollution, in this case, the presence of higher than normal concentrations of phosphorus.
At the end of the day, it was a tremendous trip. It was a great work day. I learned a lot, I got to experience some new things, I saw a marsh deer in the wild… One of those days that I truly feel I have a cool job. I’ll have to go back there but, again, the politics of conversation may mean there will be totally different in the future than it is now.
