Buying land is widely recognized as crucial in restoring the Everglades, contends the National Audubon Society. Expect more homes and businesses to move in otherwise, the organization warns. Four out of five new residents are expected to live in or fairly near suburban Sunrise, home to the new arena of the Florida Panthers professional hockey team. In its simplest form, the threats to wetlands seem to boil down to a curious circle. People need a place to live, work, shop.
Developers build homes where demand indicates people want to live.
So more people move into new ranch houses in the former wetlands. More builders build there. Soon, you have a suburb where herons once stood like statues, waiting silently for a meal to float by. At any point, people could stop buying homes or doing business in former wetlands, encouraging developers and businesses to stay in centralized cities. And government agencies could stop granting permits to develop them.