RESTORATION of the Florida Everglades is stuck in a bureaucratic quagmire. Despite a deal earlier this year in which the state bought 75,000 hectares of Everglades farmland, restoration is moving slowly, risking further deterioration of the fragile ecosystem and irreversible species losses.
The US National Research Council panel charged with reviewing an ambitious restoration programme for the area says in a report this week that the plan 鈥� being mounted jointly by the state and federal agencies 鈥� 鈥渋s bogged down in budgeting, planning and procedural matters and is making only scant progress鈥�. It blames the delays on the federal planning process and conflicts between government agencies and private groups. None of the four pilot projects and four infrastructure projects begun in 2000 has been completed.
The delays make it impossible to assess the ecosystem鈥檚 response to the project, the report warns. Time is running out as the number and area of tree islands in the marsh continues to shrink, while invasive species are spreading.
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