With more money for Everglades, Miccosukee finally hopeful about restoration progress

The Miccosukee Tribe, which has fought for decades to clean up and revive the Everglades that it calls home, hosted an event this week to celebrate something long in coming: Progress.

In a meeting with White House representatives, local political leaders, and other groups, tribal leaders said the $1.5 billion of recent funding approved earlier this year for Everglades projects was going toward more than just restoring the environment. It also was helping preserve a way of life and culture, said Petties Osceola, Jr., Lawmaker of the Tribe.

Osceola said he grew up hunting frogs, turtles, and gators with spears in the Everglades. But over the decades, he saw the Everglades decline, saying waters tainted by farming and suburban runoff had harmed the natural system and even sickened many tribe members.

“And that’s one of the reasons why we are so adamant about at least cleaning up the water. But this is a step in the right direction. And we applaud it and are happy about it,” said Osceola during the Thursday event.

The Biden administration has assigned Senior Advisor Mitch Landrieu to spearhead the massive influx of $1.5 billion funding for the long-running and oft-stalled state-federal effort to restore the vast River of Grass. The latest money for the $10 billion-plus project was approved by Congress in May as part of the Biden administration’s infrastructure bill. It will pay for a number of projects expected to be completed by 2029.

In attendance, along with Landrieu, was U.S. Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Broward County Democrat, who said it was vital for all of South Florida to save the Everglades.

“[The Everglades] is not only a central habitat for fish and wildlife, it’s a system that provides drinking water for millions of Floridians. It protects all our communities, but increasingly intense hurricanes and floods,” said Wasserman Schultz.

Despite the progress, one message was clear: That urgency was still needed to preserve the system for future generations.

Mae’anna Osceola-Hart, 18, who just graduated from Miccosukee Indian School, was invited to attend the event.

“Learning this kind of information helps me pass knowledge along to the youth,” Osceola-Hart said. “I have family members who I see as protectors of the Everglades. I want to carry on the legacy of my ancestors of trying to protect the Everglades for future generations because I want my kids to grow up here because I grew up here.”