Perspective

The perspective given in the book, The Everglades: River of Grass, is that of the author Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who was a resident of Florida for eighty-three years until her death in 1998. She was one of the leading spokespeople for the protection of the Florida Everglades environment. In her book on the Everglades, she looks at the treatment of the Glades people and the effect that development of the surrounding areas had on the Everglades. As a result of economic development and in the interests of economic pursuits, agricultural wastes were dumped into the Everglades introducing phosphorous and nitrogen. Dikes and pumps were used as a means of water management and flood control which introduced salt water into the fresh water area. The result was to damage the sensitive balance of the ecosystem which caused plant and animal life to die. Since that time, the author has fought...