Call to Action: Rescue the River of Grass

The call to action is simple enough: Sign a petition to help restore clean water flow to the Everglades and Florida Bay and in the process all but stop harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries.

Turning signed petitions into action is a tougher task—but it’s a battle worth the time and effort of all Floridians.

I believe and support the people behind Friends of the Everglades, a non-profit started by Marjory Stoneman Douglas in 1969, and their recent campaign launch aptly named “Rescue the River of Grass.” Here are some important answers:

• Why now? The money is available. In 2014, 74.96 percent of Florida voters approved Amendment 1 which has been generating over $1 billion a year from real estate sales for public land acquisition.
• Why else now? This funding source will only be available for 10 more years.
• What about restoration efforts currently underway? Eve Samples, Executive Director of Friends of the Everglades, told me the Rescue campaign isn’t about deviating from existing plans, but finishing them. “We’ve known for decades that at least 100,000 acres are needed for water storage and treatment south of Lake Okeechobee. The EAA Reservoir fell well short of that goal—and now is an urgent time to finish the job,” Samples said.
• Is this a new idea? No. For decades Florida Sportsman championed acquiring more public land south of Lake Okeechobee for Everglades restoration. The idea, Plan Six, was created more than two decades ago by the Army Corps of Engineers. Florida 
Sportsman lobbied extensively in favor of it.
• Is there scientific support? Scientists in the field of Everglades restoration have long argued for more land. Dr. Tom Van Lent, who has spent four decades working on Everglades restoration, says that we actually need an additional 1 million acre-feet of water treatment and storage south of Lake Okeechobee. Only then could we truly stop damaging discharges to coastal estuaries and be able to store and treat enough water to effectively restore the Everglades.
• What’s in it for me? Well, do you want better inshore fishing? Reconnecting the river of grass is the single largest issue affecting the quality of fishing in the lower third of the state. The destruction and disappearance of seagrasses in the coastal estuaries and Florida Bay is devastating to our fisheries.
• How about the state build you the best bass fishery in the world? The acquisition of 100,000 acres in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) would hand a blank slate to engineers for a 70,000-acre reservoir (Lake Marjory, maybe?) to function like a natural lake. Better, even.
• Is there precedent? Florida did this very thing in 2010 with the 10,000-acre Fellsmere Reservoir, now better known as Headwaters Lake. In 2023, per FWC’s Trophy Catch program, more 8-pound bass—85!—were caught there than any other Florida lake.

Construction Engineer Inspector Tommy Cook, who oversaw Headwaters Lake’s creation, proudly told of the “skate park” type of fish-attracting habitat built into it. He agreed that it could be possible with Lake Marjory, a water body that would be seven times the size of Headwaters. It would only make sense that a lake this size constructed with public funds would allow for public access, too.

Save a fishery, while building another. Now that’s an effort worth getting behind.

Visit everglades.com/rescue to sign the petition. And continue to follow Friends of the Everglades efforts to “Rescue the River of Grass.”

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• This article was featured in the April 2025 issue of Florida Sportsman magazine. Click to subscribe

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