The restoration of the Everglades is an ongoing effort to remedy damage inflicted on the environment of southern Florida during the 20th century. As of 2009, it is the most expensive and comprehensive environmental repair attempt in history. The degradation of the Everglades became an issue in the United States in the early 1970s after a proposal to construct a jetport in the Big Cypress Swamp. Studies indicated the jetport would have destroyed the ecosystem in South Florida and Everglades National Park. After decades of destructive practices, both state and federal agencies are looking for ways to balance the needs of the natural environment in South Florida with urban and agricultural centers that have recently and rapidly grown in the Everglades. When high levels of phosphorus and mercury were discovered in these waterways in 1986, water quality became a focus for water management agencies. Costly and lengthy court battles were waged between various government entities to determine who was responsible for monitoring and enforcing water quality standards. A strategy called the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan was attached to restore portions of the Everglades, Lake Okeechobee, the Caloosahatchee River, and Florida Bay to undo the damage of the past 50 years. It would take 30 years and cost $7.8 billion to complete. Though the plan was passed into law in 2000, it has been compromised by politics and funding problems.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restoration_of_the_Everglades

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1541:

The expedition led by Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto became the first documented Europeans to reach the Mississippi River. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto

1794:

The Reign of Terror: Branded a traitor, French chemist and economist Antoine Lavoisier, a former royal tax collector with the Ferme Générale, was tried, convicted, and guillotined on the same day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Lavoisier

1886:

In Atlanta, Georgia, American pharmacist John Pemberton first sold his carbonated beverage Coca-Cola as a patent medicine, claiming that it cured a number of diseases. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola

1945:

Most armed forces under German control ceased active operations by 23:01 CET at the end of World War II in Europe, in accordance with the German Instrument of Surrender signed by General Alfred Jodl on behalf of Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz the day before. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/end_of_World_War_II_in_Europe

1963:

Soldiers of the Catholic South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem open fire on Buddhists who were defying a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesak, killing nine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hue_Vesak_shootings

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

polyptoton (n): A stylistic scheme in which words from the same root are used together, or a word is repeated in a different inflection or case http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/polyptoton

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Freedom granted only when it is known beforehand that its effects will be beneficial is not freedom. --Friedrich Hayek http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek