From Orvis:
Today, the Florida Bay ecosystem receives only a quarter of the freshwater it needs to sustain itself and is on the brink of collapse. Two thousand species of plants and animals rely on this water as it travels through the Everglades and ends up in the bay. Restoration is the only way to help the multitude of plants and animals that call the Everglades and Florida Bay home and ensure that future generations can enjoy these incredibly unique ecosystems.
That’s why Orvis’ Vice President of Conservation & Sustainability, Laura Schaffer, is on Capitol Hill this week urging Congress to continue to fund Everglades restoration. Earlier today, Orvis ran a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal urging policymakers on Capitol Hill to keep up that funding.
From Simon Perkins, President of Orvis:
“The time is now to protect Florida’s $33 billion outdoor economy and ensure a healthy, thriving Everglades for our kids and future generations. At Orvis, we’ve been committed to restoring Florida’s Everglades, and progress was thought impossible for decades. Now, with the support of our customers, fishing guides, nonprofit partners, and policymakers, finishing the largest ecosystem restoration project in the world is within sight. We cannot wait.”
Here’s why this matters now:
- Restoring the Everglades helps with our resiliency by stabilizing our shoreline in the face of hurricanes and storms, reducing flooding from storm surges.
- Restoration will bring back 3 million acres of carbon sequestration capacity.
- For every $1 invested in Everglades restoration, we realize a $4 return to Florida’s economy in real estate, water supply, and water-based tourism. It creates more than 440,000 jobs ranging from the construction industry to the hard-hit tourism industry.
- Everglades restoration has remained a bi-partisan issue since the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan was signed into law in 2000 by President Clinton in partnership with the state of Florida and then Florida’s Governor Jeb Bush. Recently the bipartisan appropriations committee approved $447M in FY23 for Everglades Restoration; recent $1.1 billion on the bipartisan federal infrastructure package.
To continue the momentum of decades of restoration efforts, Orvis, the Everglades Foundation, and Captains for Clean Water are visiting congressmen and congresswomen to bring awareness to the topic to support Florida’s $33 billion outdoor economy.
