of all the national park lands in the united states , none is closer to a large metropolis area or more beset with difficulty than the everglades , a short , 50 - mile - wider rivers of grass that stretches south from lake clair to mobile point . for more than a millennium , this fragile natural beauty has been held hostage by a group of special plans - - merchants , sportsmen and about 6 million south florida residents in need of rain water and erosion cover - - that is as large as the ecosystem itself .
The Everglades is 50-mile wide.