Abstract
THE proposed Everglades National Park, recently authorized by the Congress of the United States, after thirty years agitation, is of importance to all who are interested in outdoor life. Its area (capable of enlargement) of two thousand square miles is less than that of several national parks in the United States and elsewhere ; but it surpasses in the abundance, variety, and activity of plant and animal life. In most large parks life is in a decline. Variety is giving way to uniformity. Erosion is tearing down mountains ; species are disappearing; plant and animal life is maintained with difficulty in increasingly artificial conditions. Such is not the case in the Everglades. Both at the outer fringes of mangroves and far within, land is naturally and continually increasing, life in the warm humid climate is luxuriant, active—primeval, as if species were making. Plants and animals live as they have for ages, and as they may continue to live for years to come.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Small, J. The Proposed Everglades National Park, U.S.A. Nature 140, 263–264 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/140263a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/140263a0