February 13, 2025 - Palm Peach Post
By Marshall Field V:
I have had a love for the region that is home to America’s Everglades since I began coming to Jupiter Island, Florida, in 1957. Over time, I’ve seen the precious Everglades suffer more than its share of environmental insults, jeopardizing not only its extraordinary ecosystem but also the freshwater supply upon which millions of Florida residents and visitors rely for drinking water, recreation, and yes, real estate values.
In 1993, two fishing buddies – Paul Tudor Jones II and the late George Barley – observed this, too, and formed The Everglades Foundation with a clear mission: To restore and protect America’s Everglades through science, advocacy, and education. No organization has done more to restore and protect this unique ecosystem – a place recognized worldwide as an International Biosphere Reserve and a Wetland of International Importance.
The Everglades Foundation is the only organization expressly dedicated to fostering and leveraging scientific insights to restore and protect the Everglades. The Foundation’s work is driven by a team of Ph.D. scientists and a chief economist whose research and expertise guide environmental solutions; a team of advocacy experts who rally bipartisan support for restoration; and a group of educators who created the world’s only Everglades Literacy program, fostering a new generation of Everglades stewards through a PreK-12 STEM-based initiative that has helped 250,000 Florida students understand the Everglades’ importance and fragility while meeting state education requirements.
Science has been the cornerstone of every one of the Foundation’s initiatives designed to achieve restoration goals, and the momentum continues to build. Through the Foundation’s leadership, the world’s largest ecosystem restoration effort will be a model for the rest of the globe. And while we have continued to aggressively push restoration toward completion, we knew we needed to pivot to protection, too, because the encroaching threats to the Everglades will always exist.
That is why The Everglades Foundation in 2022 launched the ForEverglades Endowment Campaign, to augment the Foundation’s annual fundraising program, ensure the long-term sustainability of America’s Everglades for future generations, and protect it in perpetuity.
By the end of 2024 – thanks to individuals and organizations who embrace the bipartisan spirit of Everglades restoration and want to protect forever what The Everglades Foundation is devoted to saving – the campaign surpassed its goal, raising $76 million to establish the Foundation’s first endowment. The generous supporters are leaving a lasting legacy – a legacy of protection – and the assurance that there will always be passionate people armed with state-of-the-art scientific data, fully dedicated to ensuring the survival and sustainability of America’s beloved Everglades for generations to come.
The tremendous success of this campaign represents a new beginning for The Everglades Foundation, which welcomes continued support from individuals and organizations who also want to leave a legacy of protection for this vital ecosystem.
It has been my pleasure and honor to chair the ForEverglades Endowment Campaign. It is our responsibility to preserve this global treasure. This will be our legacy. We are grateful to all who have made it theirs, too.
Marshall Field V is the immediate past chair of The Everglades Foundation Board of Directors and is an active philanthropist.
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For over 30 years, The Everglades Foundation has been the premier organization fighting to restore and protect the precious Everglades ecosystem through science, advocacy, and education.
Join the movement to restore and protect the global treasure that is America’s Everglades. Sign up to learn more. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter). Give a gift of any amount you can to support our mission at EvergladesFoundation.org/Donate.
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