The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1947-12-05
! GLADES PARK
&C Continued From Page Ono,

potentially the greatest narl -
/, the entire National Park svstenr
into which it entered on June d
Of this year under Congressional
!, authority, exercised by Secretary
6f the Interior Julius A. Krig !,
7. IS destined to become one of The
finer and most noteworthy pub.
DC possessions of this state and
a. outstanding contribution hv
/, Us, as Floridians, to the peonle ~
the United States. At the Same
tine itssyill make the most valu-
al scdnoWa, contribution-far
cd aMaN tesmost valuable-to
onstate's prosperity of any pub.
licly-owned asset.
IT is in the forefront of the
pace that hassbeen set by Florida
I in its recent years of expansion
! and progress; it will make q
growing addition to that progress
year by year. ~
gfAsT rapidly as possible. and
without imposing upon your gen.
srotis good will, should like to
outline briefly the Everglades
National. Parks history: discuss
with you the 'ear in dispute" in
which selfishly inspired and po-
htical interests have distorted the
facts;deA YOU; of. some of the val
ues already attained and view its
potential economic worth to the
state and its promise for the flu
ture. IA want you to see what a
bargain. we have on our hands.
Twenty years ago, Ernest F.
Ocean outstanding and talented
landscape architect, lately arriv-
ed'lfi Florida from New England
totmake. his homie, conceived the
idea OF making into National
Park the practically uninhabited
and unused area which is some
times referred to as the Lower
Glsdes and Cape Sable regions
of Fl6rida.'s In response to Mr..
Goes petition, Congress, in March
ofs1929, authorized the Secretary
of the Interior to investigate and
report on the advisability and
practicsbility of establishing
National Park in the Everglades
region with the result that the
then Secretary Ray Lyman Will
bur came to Florida to survey the
O.
n, He decided that the region
possessed National Park stan
,dards, that this most unusual Sec
ton of-great sawgrass prairies
and of many waterways, lakes,
bays. and shores, of sandy beach
es and impenetrable forests, of
swanps and Indian mounds, of
rare and beautiful hardwood
trees such as the mellauca, the
mahogany, ironwood. lignum
Vitae, cypress, Australian pines
: and many others; of wildlife such
sas bears, otter. deer and coons;
ssof marine life like the manatee or
Sea COW, the alligator, the croco-
die and hundreds of varieties of
fish, of birdlife reaching all the
swayt to, the American eagle and
the likes of which, for variety
and beauty, probably exist no
where else on earth: "a varieties
of orchids, some minute, others
with stems as long as eight feet,
+: of tree snails and of outstanding
and penetrating historic and
mysterious ,significance-that this
area should be forever preserved.
al a national show place and pos
session.
3. The result was Is years Of slow,
sometimes, hating, but always
steady, progress. The Congress
'ofsthe United States adopted ne
ceessary laws as the need arose.
Ten sessions of our state legisla-
G. ture and five governors contrib
uted7 to its advancement.
In the closing weeks of the
term of Governor Spessard l..
Holland he met with his success
sor. Governor Willard F. Cald-
well, and with the representa-
tives Of the, then Secretary of the
!, Interior, Harold L .Ickes, in Tai
lahassee. They revised the out
lines of the, park and make Ger
tain agreements, ! one OF which
=. called for the turning over by the
state to the federal park depart
n1ent of approximately 8O0,ooo
acres of state-owned land within
the area. That left approximate
Nv 100000 acres of privately-held
lands to, be acquired to complete
the, parks minimum boundary.
3 That. in effect, was the sltua-
ton when in April of 1916 Gov
( ernor Caldwell reactivated the
: Everglades National Park Com
mission by appointing Is mem
'bers and a managing director
and charged it with responsibility
I. for bringing the park into beng:
2 The commission is an offlcial
state agency, established by the
Legislature in 1929. Its member
ship comes from all parts OF the
state I'VE have members in Pen
sacola, in Key West, in the MD
die of the state, in Jacksonville
iii Miami. and on the west coast
We ma dan organization mee'ihe
and fonnd* .ho,o
{ That we could acquire these
. uriva4ely-held lands in 1oui
!. ways: BY donation. by trace !ol
Z ,,Ahan--state-ewned lands OUTSIDE