The book Biosphere 2000: Protecting Our Global Environment refers to Friends of the Everglades as an organization that has fought to preserve North America's only subtropical wetland.

[2][3] Environmental activist Kai Marshall and Browder's office manager Judy Wilson were influential in persuading Marjory Stoneman Douglas to start an organization to protect the Everglades.

"[7] Some of the environmental issues facing the Everglades are disrupted water flow, a drastic decline in the wading bird population, human development, invasion of exotic species, and the endangerment of the Florida panther.

Additionally, species such as the wood stork, the Cape Sable seaside sparrow and the manatee have an uncertain future in the Everglades as a result of environmental issues.

Friends also has protested government plans to build 63 square miles of stormwater treatment area (STAs) or filtering marshes to absorb excess nutrients resulting from the agricultural pollution of Big Sugar plantations.

[11] Previous Florida Governor Rick Scott has stated that he favors "restoration, not litigation," which provides a hopeful rallying cry for environmentalists.

The state seems willing to negotiate the two sides of the contentious debate, that of big sugar and conservationists, but environmentalists are not convinced that it will be enough to adequately address the needs of the Everglades.

[13] In 2004, the Miccosukee tribe, along with Friends of the Everglades, initiated a lawsuit which accused the Environmental Protection Agency and DEP of failing to enforce the federal Clean Water Act.

Friends of the Everglades and other conservation groups continues to legally challenge the looser interpretation of the Clean Water Act but has not been totally successful.

The Young Friends program was started in 1994 by fourth and fifth grade students at Howard Drive Elementary School in Miami, Florida, along with their teachers, Marta Whitehouse and Connie Washburn.

The student organization was first formed in response to plans to build a sports and entertainment park on an area considered essential for wetlands restoration.

The Board of Directors of Friends of the Everglades includes Phil Kushlan, President; Peter Upton, Vice President; Alan Farago, Conservation Chair; Connie Washburn, Secretary; Richard Trotta, Treasurer; Jason Evans; Ray Judah; Nathaniel Linville; Robert Mitchell; Dave Preston; Camila Quaresma-Sharp; Robert Stein; Sylmarie Trujillo; Milda Vaivada; and Blair Wickstrom.