For unfortunate reasons, we heard this name mentioned in the news back in February, but the Parkland high school and parts of the Everglades were named after the American journalist, conversationalist and women’s suffrage advocate.
The Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness makes up around 1.3 million acres of the Everglades National Park. In 1964, the Wilderness Act was created, and stated ““A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. An area of wilderness is further defined to mean in this Act an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions.”
Within this act, 86 percent of the Everglades was designated the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness in 1978. The designated land is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States and it’s the largest wilderness east of the Rocky Mountains. This area of land has the highest level of protection on it as possible. Within the Everglades, the largest protect stand of sawgrass in North America exists and the largest protect mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere lives. Also, this protected area is home to 21 federally threatened and endangered species.
In the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness area, people have the chance to explore the Park both during the day and night. One-third of this protected area is submerged, as the seal floor is designated wilderness. Since it’s protected, this area helps keep the South Florida’s water source protected; this area also protects other parts of Florida from incoming storms (like hurricanes).
Regulation on land and in water are put in place in this area to assure animals safety and promote nesting. Be prepared for rules in the Park! There are rules regarding camping, pets, motor vehicles, generators, and more. To find out these rules, visit www.nps.gov.
