In his 1904 campaign for governor, Napoleon Bonaparte Broward vowed to turn the vast South Florida marsh into an "Empire of the Everglades." The ensuing efforts to tame the natural landscape set off a century of miraculous growth and development, but at great environmental cost. Restoration of the Everglades region is now among Florida's most vexing challenges—complicated by an array of tariffs and subsidies that prop up the Big Sugar industry in the region.
Prior to human settlement, the Everglades was nearly twice the size it is today. Water flowed freely from Central Florida through the winding Kissimmee River and into Lake Okeechobee. In the wet seasons, the lake's water levels rose until the liquid lapped over its southern edge into a vast "river of grass" before entering Florida Bay. The water flowed through expansive grassland prairies, marshes, and sloughs, giving rise to one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet.
