Take Action for Manatees and the Everglades

We are at a pivotal moment for the Everglades where major restoration projects are on the cusp of being completed, which will allow water to mimic historic healthy flows through the Everglades and into Florida Bay—to provide important habitat for the Florida manatee and other wildlife. Congress has the opportunity now to step up for the Florida Everglades and manatees by supporting the funding needed to bring these key projects across the finish line and restore this one-of-a-kind ecosystem.

Please urge your representatives in Congress to support Everglades restoration.

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As the fiscal year 2025 appropriations process moves forward, I urge you to support strong funding for efforts to restore America’s Everglades by allocating $725 million in the FY25 Energy and Water Appropriations bill under the United States Army Corps of Engineers construction account to implement Everglades restoration. Restoring and protecting the Everglades not only helps sustain wildlife like the Florida manatee, but also safeguards the drinking water of 9 million Floridians. Florida is the “Fishing Capital of the World,” drawing anglers from across the nation to fish the waters of Florida Bay and the Keys every year. At least one million people from all over the world visit the Everglades each year. A restored Everglades safeguards these outdoor recreation and tourism economies while also enhancing climate resilience. Lessons learned and best practices from Everglades restoration can be harnessed and applied elsewhere for other large-scale ecosystem restoration projects across the country.

The bipartisan plan to restore America’s Everglades involves constructing and maintaining a suite of resilience-building water infrastructure projects that remove barriers to water flow. Thanks to recent investments, we are now at a pivotal moment where the Army Corps of Engineers is ready to bring key restoration projects across the finish line and achieve the biggest on-the-ground ecosystem benefits of Everglades restoration.

This progress comes at a time of dire need for the Everglades ecosystem. Coastal estuaries are already beginning to experience the damaging impacts of unnaturally high volumes of polluted water that were discharged into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Rivers in efforts to lower water levels on Lake Okeechobee. Although these releases have been paused, water levels in the lake remain high heading towards warmer months, threatening to produce another “lost summer” of toxic blue-green algae for Florida’s coastal communities.

We must maintain the current momentum for restoration to advance the critical infrastructure projects necessary to clean this water and send it south to rehydrate the Everglades. In order to keep us on track to restore the quality and historic flow of water through the Everglades this decade, I urge you to support $725 million for the Army Corps South Florida Ecosystem Restoration program in the FY25 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. Thank you for caring about the Everglades and Florida wildlife!

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