<P> The same year the park was dedicated, two hurricanes and the wet season caused 100 inches (250 cm) to fall on South Florida . Though there were no human casualties, agricultural interests lost approximately $59 million . In 1948 Congress approved the Central and Southern Florida Project for Flood Control and Other Purposes (C&SF), which divided the Everglades into basins . In the northern Everglades were Water Conservation Areas (WCAs), and the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) bordering to the south of Lake Okeechobee . In the southern Everglades was Everglades National Park . Levees and pumping stations bordered each WCA, and released water in dryer times or removed it and pumped it to the ocean in times of flood . The WCAs took up approximately 37 percent of the original Everglades . The C&SF constructed over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of canals, and hundreds of pumping stations and levees within three decades . During the 1950s and 1960s the Miami metropolitan area grew four times as fast as the rest of the nation . Between 1940 and 1965, 6 million people moved to South Florida: 1,000 people moved to Miami every week . Developed areas between the mid-1950s and the late 1960s quadrupled . Much of the water reclaimed from the Everglades was sent to newly developed areas . </P> <P> The C&SF established 470,000 acres (1,900 km) for the Everglades Agricultural Area--27 percent of the Everglades prior to development . In the late 1920s, agricultural experiments indicated that adding large amounts of manganese sulfate to Everglades muck produced a profitable harvest for vegetables . The primary cash crop in the EAA is sugarcane, though sod, beans, lettuce, celery, and rice are also grown . Fields in the EAA are typically 40 acres (160,000 m), bordered by canals on two sides, that are connected to larger canals where water is pumped in or out depending on the needs of the crops . The fertilizers used on vegetables, along with high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus that are the byproduct of decayed soil necessary for sugarcane production, were pumped into WCAs south of the EAA . The introduction of large amounts of these chemicals provided opportunities for exotic plants to take hold in the Everglades . 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 . </P> <P> A turning point came for development in the Everglades at the proposal in the late 1960s for an expanded airport, after Miami International Airport outgrew its capacities . The new jetport was planned to be larger than O'Hare, Dulles, JFK, and LAX airports combined, and the chosen location was 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Everglades National Park . The first sentence of the U.S. Department of Interior study of the environmental impact of the jetport read, "Development of the proposed jetport and its attendant facilities...will inexorably destroy the south Florida ecosystem and thus the Everglades National Park". 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", 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 ." Governor Claude Kirk withdrew his support for the project, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas was persuaded at 79 years old to go on tour to give hundreds of speeches against it . Nixon instead established Big Cypress National Preserve, announcing it in the Special Message to the Congress Outlining the 1972 Environmental Program . </P> <P> The Central and Southern Florida Flood Control Project's final construction project was straightening the Kissimmee River, a meandering 90 - mile (140 km) - long river that was drained to make way for grazing land and agriculture . The C&SF started building the C - 38 canal in 1962 and the effects were seen almost immediately . Waterfowl, wading birds, and fish disappeared, prompting conservationists and sport fishers to demand the region be restored before the canal was finished in 1971 . In general, C&SF projects had been criticized for being temporary fixes that ignored future consequences, costing billions of dollars with no end in sight . After Governor Bob Graham initiated the Save Our Everglades campaign in 1983, the first section of the canal was backfilled in 1986 . Graham announced that by 2000 the Everglades would be restored as closely as possible to its pre-drainage state . The Kissimmee River Restoration project was approved by Congress in 1992 . It is estimated that it will cost $578 million to convert only 22 miles (35 km) of the canal . The entire project was to be complete by 2011, yet as of 2017, the project is "more than halfway complete" and the new completion date is 2020 . </P>

Florida is famous for its area of unique vegetation the evergreens