National Parks
Important Places Protected and Preserved for All of Us
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Everglades National Park
Everglades National Park is in Florida. It is a wetland. It has swamps. Swamps are areas that have trees but are flooded sometimes.
Long ago, 11,000 square miles in Florida were wetlands. There were marshes and swamps and rivers and creeks. If you wanted to travel there, you would need a canoe or a rowboat. You could get lost. There were alligators, and it was dangerous.
White settlers came. They started filling in the creeks and draining the water. They wanted to make farms. This hurt the plants and animals that already lived there.
In 1947 the U.S. government started Everglades National Park. This land in Florida was protected. It would not be drained or filled in. This would help the plants and animals that lived there.
Now you can see the wildlife in Everglades National Park. You can go on one of the boardwalks. You can ride on an airboat. Some people even see the wildlife by helicopter. No one is in danger from the alligators.
The Everglades are in Florida. The Everglades used to be much larger.
This is a picture of the Everglades. It was taken from a helicopter.
Cypress trees grow in the everglades. They have special roots. The roots look like knees. Cypress trees can get up to 150 feet tall. This cypress tree has a snowy egret near it.
Long ago, you could meet alligators in the Everglades. It would be scary.
Mangroves also grow in the Everglades. They have thick, tangly roots. The roots help the trees stay in the ground when the water rises.
Now you can see alligators. You can be safe in a tour bus. It is not scary.
Long ago you could use a canoe to see wildlife. Now, you can use an air boat.
Foxes live in the Everglades.
Some birds that live in the Everglades are the snowy egret, the brown pelican, and the piping plover. Some mammals are the manatee, the Florida Panther, and the wood rat. Reptiles are the American Alligator, the American crocodile, the loggerhead turtle, and more. Some amphibians are the Florida bog frog and the flatwoods salamander. There are many, many kinds of fish and insects.
You can see beautiful wildlife. You do not have to getyour feet wet. The Park Service has built boardwalks. You can walk on the boardwalks. This is much better than long ago. Long ago, you would have to walk in the marsh. You would have to get your feet wet.