Everglades Fact Sheet

Location: Monroe, Miami-Dade, and Collier County, Florida, United States
Size: 1,508,976 acres (10th largest National Park)
Established: December 6, 1947 (20th National Park established in the U.S.)

Overview:

America’s Everglades – The largest subtropical wilderness in the United States.

Established in 1947, Everglades National Park was the first national park in the United States created primarily to protect biodiversity. Spanning 1.5 million acres of wetlands, forests, mangroves, and coastal waters, the park safeguards an extraordinary range of habitats and the native plants and animals that depend on them.

The park’s ecological importance has earned the Everglades multiple international recognitions, including designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, UNESCO International Biosphere Reserve, and a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance. These honors highlight the park’s global significance as one of the most unique and precious ecosystems on Earth.

Beyond conservation, the Everglades plays a vital role in human life. The park’s vast wetlands act as a natural filtration system, supplying much of the drinking water for nearly eight million people in South Florida. It also provides flood protection, supports regional fisheries, and offers recreational opportunities like birdwatching, boating, hiking, and wildlife viewing, making it both an ecological and cultural cornerstone for the region.

Other Everglades Fun Facts:

• Predominant water recharge area for all of South Florida through the Biscayne Aquifer
• Home to 13 endangered and 10 threatened species including the smalltooth sawfish and Florida leafwing butterfly
• Largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere
• Largest designated wilderness in the Eastern U.S.
• Most significant breeding grounds for tropical wading birds in North America

A Shrinking Sawgrass Prairie:

The Everglades is the largest continuous stand of sawgrass marsh (also known as a sawgrass prairie) in North America. A marsh is a type of wetland where water covers the ground for long periods of time. Unlike swamps, which are abundant with trees, marshes are typically treeless and are dominated by grasses. The Everglades is one of the largest wetlands in the world, but it used to be much larger. Only 200 years ago, this “river of grass” slowly flowed across nearly one third of Florida. Today, however, less than half of the historic Everglades ecosystem remains, due to decades of human activity such as draining wetlands and reclaiming land for agriculture and urban development.

Crocodiles vs. Alligators:

Question: One of these is a crocodile and one is an alligator. Can you guess which is which?

Everglades National Park is the only ecosystem in the world where alligators and crocodiles can exist side by side. Although alligators live only in fresh water — because they can’t digest salt — crocodiles can thrive in both fresh and salt water. The rare coexistence of the two species is possible because of the park’s mix of freshwater marshes and coastal estuaries, which provide habitat for both. Here are some tips to tell them apart:

• Shape of the snout. Alligator snouts are broad and U-shaped, while crocodile snouts are narrow and V-shaped.
• Next are the teeth. In the case of alligators, the lower teeth are typically not visible when the mouth is shut. In crocodiles, however, certain teeth in the lower jaw may be seen, notably the large fourth tooth.

Answer: Alligator is first, crocodile is second!

Endangered Species — The Florida Panther:

The Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi), a subspecies of North America’s puma, once roamed across Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and parts of Tennessee and South Carolina. Today, the panther’s range is less than five percent the size of its original range. Seen as a threat to humans and livestock, the species was hunted nearly to extinction throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. By 1995, fewer than 30 individuals remained in the wild. However, conservation efforts (including the introduction of Texas pumas to increase genetic diversity) helped the population rebound. Everglades National Park and surrounding protected areas are vital to the panther’s recovery, providing a habitat for a recovering population estimated at over 100 adult panthers. Despite this progress, the species remains critically endangered and faces such threats as vehicle collisions and loss of habitat due to urban sprawl.

Invasive Species — The Burmese Python:

Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus), native to Southeast Asia, have become one of the most destructive invasive species in South Florida’s Everglades. Burmese pythons were introduced to the park due to accidental or intentional release of pet animals, and they now thrive in the park’s wetland ecosystem. These apex predators have inflicted dramatic losses on native mammal populations such as raccoons, opossums, bobcats, rabbits and foxes. Despite this ecological chaos, visitors to the Everglades are unlikely to see Burmese pythons due to their camouflage and stealth. Everglades National Park has spent over 10 years investigating ways to remove pythons from the environment. Watch this video to learn more about Burmese python research and other invasive species work happening in the park!

People in the Everglades:

Though the Everglades are famed for their sweeping landscapes, they have long been a place of home and survival. Native peoples and later settlers called “Gladesmen” relied on the rich natural resources of the Everglades and learned to navigate its challenging environment.

Native People:

Long before Spanish contact in 1513, the Calusa Indians built a complex society in South Florida. Emerging around 1000 B.C., the Calusa engineered shell mounds, carved tools and wood, and traveled far by canoe. By the 1700s, European diseases had devastated their population. With the demise of indigenous people in South Florida, and with white settlement occurring to the north, increasing migrations of Creek peoples were forced southward for hunting and settling. The Seminole and Miccosukee, tribes affiliated with the Creek federation, were in the area as early as the 18th century.

Early Communities:

By the late 1800s, the South Florida coast remained remote and largely undeveloped. Only three small towns – Chokoloskee, Cape Sable, and Flamingo – dotted the coastline. These isolated villages relied on supplies shipped from distant cities like Key West and Tampa. Residents traded in fish, produce, and cane syrup, with some goods reaching markets as far away as New York City.

Gladesmen:

Before the Everglades was established as a national park in 1947, many people made their living off the land. These “Gladesmen” were skilled hunters and outdoorsmen, reliant on the Everglades’ resources not only to survive but also to provide for their communities. Their way of life reflected a deep connection with this unique wilderness.

Airboats — Navigating the Everglades with Power and Precision:

Today, a popular way to travel around the Everglades is by airboat. Airboats are specialized, flat-bottomed vessels powered by an aircraft-style propeller, typically driven by an automotive or aircraft engine. Instead of the submerged propellers used in traditional boats, airboats rely on a fan mounted above the waterline, propelling them forward with a blast of air. This design enables airboats to glide effortlessly over shallow, marshy terrain and through dense vegetation that would stall conventional watercraft. The vessel hovers on a thin layer of water, making it ideal for exploring the Everglades’ complex, fragile ecosystem. Operating at speeds from 30 to 60 miles per hour depending on engine power and craft design, airboats offer both functionality and excitement. The craft are widely used in ecotourism, environmental research, wildlife observation, and even search-and-rescue operations in swampy or inaccessible areas.

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Sources: All images and data are public domain provided via the Everglades National Park NPS Site.

This piece comes to us from our nonprofit partner Post Pigeon EDU. With a mission to spark curiosity about the amazing nature in our public lands, Nature and Post Pigeon EDU are collaborating on a series of posts that will share the histories and stories of our National Parks.

More about Post Pigeon EDU: To ignite the next generation of planetary stewards, Post Pigeon EDU is a nonprofit organization working to increase exposure and access to the outdoors by bringing public lands and leadership into K-12 classrooms, virtually.