Number: 1990-25
WHEREAS, the Everglades ecosystem is one of the world’s largest wetland ecosystems; and
WHEREAS, the Everglades region beginning with central Florida’s Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, Kissimmee River Valley, Lake Okeechobee, Fisheating Creek, Taylor Creek-Nubbin Slough, Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Water Conservation Areas, Holey Land-Rotenberger and Brown’s Farm Wildlife Management Areas, the East Everglades, Everglades National Park, the waters of Florida Bay and adjacent wetlands systems contain diverse wetlands of high value providing productive habitat for a wide variety of fish and wildlife including a number of federal and state endangered species; and
WHEREAS, these areas provide the public with tremendous recreational opportunities including both freshwater and saltwater fishing, hunting and wildlife observation; and
WHEREAS, the ecosystem also supports a highly productive commercial saltwater fishery for both finfish and shellfish; and
WHEREAS, southern Florida has experienced tremendous growth IN human populations in recent years; and
WHEREAS, extensive wetlands areas have been filled and converted for development and agricultural purposes IN the region; and
WHEREAS, extensive agricultural conversions of south Florida wetlands for sugar and citrus are occurring; and
WHEREAS, agricultural and urban demands for water in the region are increasing; and
WHEREAS, wildlife, including endangered species such as the federally-endangered snail kite, are directly threatened by water losses from areas containing vital nesting habitat (such as Water Conservation Area 3a, which constitutes 93 percent of this bird’s nesting habitat); and
WHEREAS, wading bird populations in the Everglades have experienced drastic declines; and
WHEREAS, fish and wildlife in the Everglades and the Water Conservation Areas are contaminated with high concentrations of mercury, including contamination of the endangered Florida panther; and
WHEREAS, the muck soil in those regions of the Everglades that are subject to sugar and vegetable cultivation is experiencing rapid subsidence and oxidation resulting in loss of this non-renewable resource; and
WHEREAS, the agricultural industry has discharged nutrient- enriched waters onto public lands and waters contributing to the rapid and extensive invasion of cattails into the native saw grass-dominated wetlands throughout the region; and
WHEREAS, resource degradation on public lands has reached such an extreme level that the federal government joined by conservation organizations including the National Wildlife Federation and the Florida Wildlife Federation have been forced into taking legal action against the State of Florida for failing to protect federal properties from water quality degradation caused by the sugar industry; and
WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency currently has no wetlands field staff in southern Florida to address water quality impacts; and
WHEREAS, the Everglades ecosystem is an International Biosphere Preserve which the United States is obligated by international treaty to conserve for posterity;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 15-18, 1990, in Denver, Colorado, urges the United States Congress to recognize the Everglades Ecosystem as a national priority ecosystem in the Clean Water Act (as it has the Chesapeake Bay); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Environmental Protection Agency be directed to develop and direct an interagency task force with the objective of protecting Everglades wetlands from dredge and fill activities; preventing agricultural conversions of wetlands; and restoring hydrological functions; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in conjunction with the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission develop a water allocation schedule to benefit native wildlife including endangered species, wading birds, game and non-game species; and