Everglades

This passage is about a wilderness area in Florida called the Everglades.

Lexile Level: 420L

Categories: People & Places Animals & Nature

Many people have worked hard to protect the environment. Marjory Stoneman Douglas is one of these people. Douglas spent most of her life fighting for the Everglades. The Everglades is in Florida. It is a wilderness of grass, trees, and shallow water. Lots of plants and animals live in the Everglades. In her day, people didn't care about the Everglades. They thought it was just a swamp. They thought it was a big, useless area. It needed to be drained. Douglas thought differently. She thought the Everglades was special. She wanted to protect its ecosystem. She worried about the harmful changes people were making to the area. In 1947, she wrote a book about the Everglades. It talked about how important the area was. Her book made a big impact. Therefore, President Truman created the Everglades National Park.