The construction of a large airport 6 miles (10 km) north of Everglades National Park was blocked when an environmental study found that it would severely damage the South Florida ecosystem.

Writer James Grant Forbes stated in 1811, "The Indians represent [the Southern points] as impenetrable; and the [British] surveyors, wreckers, and coasters, had not the means of exploring beyond the borders of the sea coast, and the mouths of rivers".

[15] Underneath the metropolitan areas of Palm Beach County is the Anastasia Formation, composed of shelly limestone, coquina, and sand representing a former mangrove or salt marsh.

[16] With the rise of sea levels that occurred during the Pleistocene approximately 17,000 years ago, the runoff of water from Lake Okeechobee slowed and created the vast marshland that is now known as the Everglades.

Prior to urban and agricultural development in Florida, the Everglades began at the southern edge of Lake Okeechobee and flowed for approximately 100 miles (160 km), emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.

[29] Evapotranspiration – the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the Earth's land surface to atmosphere – associated with thunderstorms, is the key mechanism by which water leaves the region.

These plateaus rise and fall only a few inches, but on the subtle South Florida topography these small variations affect both the flow of water and the types of vegetation that can take hold.

Layers of charcoal have been detected in the peat in portions of the Everglades that indicate the region endured severe fires for years at a time, although this trend seems to have abated since the last occurrence in 940 BC.

[55] Solution holes, or deep pits where the limestone has worn away, may remain flooded even when the prairies are dry, and they support aquatic invertebrates such as crayfish and snails, and larval amphibians which feed young wading birds.

[60] Near the base, sharp saw palmettos (Serenoa repens) flourish, making the hammocks very difficult for people to penetrate, though small mammals, reptiles and amphibians find these islands an ideal habitat.

The region supports Tortugas pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum) and stone crab (Menippe mercenaria) industries;[78] between 80 and 90 percent of commercially harvested crustacean species in Florida's salt waters are born or spend time near the Everglades.

[83] However, 6,500 years ago, climate changes brought a wetter landscape; large animals became extinct in Florida, and the Paleo-Indians slowly adapted and became the Archaic peoples.

The anonymous writer described the terrain the party was crossing: No country that I have ever heard of bears any resemblance to it; it seems like a vast sea filled with grass and green trees, and expressly intended as a retreat for the rascally Indian, from which the white man would never seek to drive them.

During the Second Seminole War an army surgeon wrote, "It is in fact a most hideous region to live in, a perfect paradise for Indians, alligators, serpents, frogs, and every other kind of loathsome reptile.

Soon after his successful election, he began work to "drain that abominable pestilence-ridden swamp",[115] and pushed the Florida legislature to form a group of commissioners to oversee reclamation of flooded lands.

President Herbert Hoover toured the towns affected by the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane and ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to assist the communities surrounding the lake.

Naturally occurring bacteria in Everglades peat and muck assist with the process of decomposition under water, which is generally very slow, partially due to the low levels of dissolved oxygen.

[130] One month before the dedication of the park, a former editor from The Miami Herald and freelance writer named Marjory Stoneman Douglas released her first book titled The Everglades: River of Grass.

[140] One of the defining characteristics of natural Everglades ecology is its ability to support itself in a nutrient-poor environment, and the introduction of fertilizers began to alter the plant life in the region.

The new jetport was planned to be larger than O'Hare, Dulles, JFK, and LAX airports combined,[citation needed] and the chosen location was 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Everglades National Park.

[142] When studies indicated the proposed jetport would create 4,000,000 US gallons (15,000,000 L) of raw sewage a day and 10,000 short tons (9,100 t) of jet engine pollutants a year, the project met staunch opposition.

The New York Times called it a "blueprint for disaster",[143] and Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson wrote to President Richard Nixon voicing his opposition: "It is a test of whether or not we are really committed in this country to protecting our environment.

[146] The surviving ecological features are of vital importance to protect due to their essential support of the state of Florida and their unique properties, unknown elsewhere in the world and are of invaluable consequence to multiple fields of study.

However, although the site itself is increasing work to deal with salient issues, support at the local, state, and federal level have not been in proportion to the critical nature of conservation efforts.

[151] Further problems with the environment arose when a vast algal bloom appeared in one-fifth of Lake Okeechobee in 1986, the same year cattails were discovered overtaking sawgrass marshes in Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.

[155] The SFWMD built Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) near sugarcane fields where water leaving the EAA flows into ponds lined with lime rock and layers of peat and calcareous periphyton.

Although scientists made headway in decreasing mercury and phosphorus levels in water, the natural environment of South Florida continued to decline in the 1990s, and life in nearby cities reflected this downturn.

Crowded cities were facing problems such as high crime rates, traffic jams, severely overcrowded schools, and overtaxed public services; the report noted that water shortages were ironic, given the 53 inches (130 cm) of rain the region received annually.

The fourth report in the series, released in 2012, found that little progress has been made in restoring the core of the remaining Everglades ecosystem; instead, most project construction so far has occurred along its periphery.

[183] Overall, the report concluded that substantial near-term progress to address both water quality and hydrology in the central Everglades is needed to reverse ongoing degradation before it is too late.