FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  May 19, 2004
CONTACT: Randy Smith
                  Office: 561-682-6197
                  Cellular: 561-389-3386      

First Project to Restore America’s Everglades Bringing Results

Southern Golden Gates project ahead of schedule

AMERICA'S EVERGLADES – Less than seven months after Governor Jeb Bush broke ground on the first construction project of the 30-year, $8 billion state-federal partnership to restore America’s Everglades, water managers are moving tons of dirt to return an undeveloped subdivision east of Naples into the vast watery wilderness it was less than a century ago.

“Florida is accomplishing restoration ahead of schedule,” said Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Colleen M. Castille. “This project is already bringing environmental results — improving water quality, replenishing wetlands and restoring habitat for wildlife.”

Returning the natural flow of water through Southern Golden Gate Estates will restore more than 50,000 acres of wetlands and improve the health of downstream estuaries. As part of the first phase, engineers are moving more than 45,000 cubic yards of dirt to partially backfill seven miles of the Prairie Canal.

More than a mile-and-a-half of canal is now filled, already reducing freshwater drainage of the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, elevating groundwater levels and replenishing the wetland habitat. At the same time, workers are clearing exotic plants along two miles of canal bank to speed the return of natural vegetation to the area.

"Florida’s march to save the Everglades is bringing results," said South Florida Water Management District Executive Director Henry Dean. "Within the last six months, Florida began operating the world’s largest constructed wetland to improve water quality in the Everglades, and made great strides in restoring the natural flow of water to the Fakahatchee Strand."

As canal plugging continues, engineers will remove 25 miles of roads to restore the sheetflow of water. Improving water flow will restore habitat over two miles surrounding the filled sections of canal. Over time, natural wetland vegetation will replace the landscape currently dominated by exotic plants and cabbage palms. Florida will complete the first phase by October 2005.

In the 1960s, the Gulf American Land Corporation began developing thousands of acres of the Everglades as Southern Golden Gate Estates. After selling lots, dredging miles of canals and constructing nearly 300 miles of roads, the company went bankrupt. As part of a joint commitment to restore the famed River of Grass, the state and federal government invested more than $100 million to acquire nearly 20,000 parcels in the abandoned subdivision. Florida has already acquired more than 50 percent of the land needed to complete restoration of the Everglades.

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