Friends of the Everglades: Restoring the River of Grass

Friends of the Everglades was founded in 1969 by journalist and conservationist Marjory Stoneman Douglas to fight a proposed jetport in the Big Cypress wetlands, and has been Florida's grassroots Everglades watchdog ever since. A Clean Water Act lawsuit the group filed in 2005 forced construction of new stormwater treatment wetlands south of Lake Okeechobee, a project completed in 2024 that cuts phosphorus pollution reaching the marsh. Its ongoing 'Rescue the River of Grass' campaign is pushing Florida to use voter-approved conservation funds to buy at least 100,000 acres of farmland in the Everglades Agricultural Area for restoration, and had drawn more than 30,000 petition signatures by late 2025. The organization also runs youth education programs and advocates to keep Florida's state parks and wetlands off-limits to development.