A new PBS American experience documentary premiering this month tells
the dramatic story of one man's attempt to conquer one of nature's most unique
ecosystems the Florida Everglades based in part on the book by Michael Grunwald
the swamp it explores repeated efforts to alter the landscape of Florida and
tame the glades leading to unintended consequences.
HERE'S A PEEK.
SUNSHINE SUNSHINE PERPETUAL SUNSHINE ALL THE YEAR ROUND.
800 WONDERFUL RESIDENCES WILL BE BUILT HERE.
YOU CAN GET ANY TYPE YOU WANT, EVEN STUCCO, OH, STUCCO.
IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 1920s, SOUTH FLORIDA JUST
WENT, YOU HAD THIS JUST INSANE REAL ESTATE BOOM.
WHERE IT FELT LIKE EVERY MODEL T THAT WAS ROLLING OFF THE
ASSEMBLY LINE WAS BEING DRIVEN STRAIGHT DOWN TO SOUTH FLORIDA.
THEY CAME IN DROVES.
AND NOT MERELY FOR VACATIONS.
WEALTHY AMERICANS WITH MARQUEE NAMES, SPENT THEIR WINTERS
IDLING IN THE FLORIDA SUNSHINE.
WHILE MIDDLE CLASS TRANSPLANTS COUNTED THEY'RE FORTUNES OR
SETTLED IN.
THE SUPPLY OF HOUSES WERE SOON EXHAUSTED FORCING SOME TO LIVE
IN TENTS OR HOUSEBOATS WHILE THEY WAITED FOR THEIR FLORIDA
DREAM THE BECOME A REALITY.
-- TO BECOME A REALITY.
THE IMAGE OF THE SUN AND SAND AND BEACHES IS WHAT THEY USED TO
LURE TO TOURISTS AND WHAT THEY LURED RETIREES IN.
THIS WOULD BE COME TO FLORIDA, RETIREMENT IS GOING TO BE EASY.
AND THE IDEA OF START AGO NEW AND BUILDING A DREAM HOME WAS
REMARKABLE FOR MANY.
THE SOUTHWEST OF MIAMI LITERALLY IN THE EVERGLADES THEY
WOULD PUT IN SIDEWALKS AND STREET LIGHTS.
NOT THAT ANYBODY WAS EVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO LIVE THERE DURING
THE SUMMER RAINY SEASON BUT THEY COULD SAY IN A NORTHERN AD.
AND HERE TO SHARE MORE ABOUT THE SWAMP IS AUTHOR OF THE BOOK
MICHAEL GRUNWALD.
MICHAEL GOOD TO HAVE YOU WITH US.
THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.
EVERGLADES, FLORIDA, AND THE POLITICS OF PARADISE.
WE SAW A LITTLE IN THE CLIP.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO WRITE THIS BOOK IN THE FIRST PLACE?
BACK WHEN I WAS YOUNG AND CHILDLESS NOT A FLORIDA
RESIDENT, SOUNDS LIKE A LONG TIME AGO, I WAS WITH THE
WASHINGTON POST AND I GOT OBSESSED WITH THE ARMY CORPS OF
ENGINEERS.
THEY HELPED TO DESTROY THE EVERGLADES, HELPED TO DRAIN THE
SWAMP.
AND NOW THEY'RE SPENDING NEARLY $20 BILLION TO TRY TO RESTORE
THE SWAMP.
THAT IN IFLT SEEMED VERY ITSELF SEEMED VERY INTERESTING.
THIS WAS AN INYESTERDAYIBLE STORY.
IT WAS, WASN'T IT, WILD WEST IN A WAY BUT DOWN IN SOUTH
FLORIDA IN THE TROPICS.
BACK IN THE 1890s WHEN THERE WERE ALREADY A MILLION
PEOPLE LIVING IN MANHATTAN, THE POPULATION OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY,
PRETTY MUCH SOUTH OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE, WAS 250.
IT WAS ALL BECAUSE OF WATER, PEOPLE TALK WITH HOW SOCIAL
SECURITY OR BUG SPRAY IS WHAT MATE SOUTH FLORIDA SO POPULATED.
BUT IT WASN'T. IT WAS WATER MANAGEMENT AND
WATER CONTROL.
UNTIL THAT YOU REALLY COULDN'T LIVE DOWN HERE.
EVEN THE NEW GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS WATER PART OF OUR DNA
WHICH IT REALLY IS.
HARKENS BACK TO THE TIME WHEN THE EVERGLADES WAS WATER SWAMP
LAND BASICALLY.
SO GO BACK TO A LOVE OF WATCHING HAMILTON DISSIN.
TALK ABOUT THIS MAN, HE WAS THE ONE WHO CAME UP WITH THE IDEA TO
DRAIN THE SWAMP.
BACK AT THE TIME, WHAT GOVERNOR DESANTIS SAYS NOW,
WATER WAS THE COMMON ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE OF FLORIDA AND
WETLANDS WERE SEEN AS WASTE LANDS.
NEVER THOUGHT OF WATER AS ECOLOGICAL TREASURE.
HE WAS THE SON OF A SAW MANUFACTURER FROM PHILADELPHIA.
HE HAD MONEY RIGHT?
HE HAD MONEY BUT HE HAD NO LIFE.
IT WAS HIS DAD'S FACTORY.
HE WANTED TO MAKE HIS NAME.
SINCE HE WAS THE FIRST OF THIS LONG SERIES OF SCHEMERS AND
DREAMERS WHO SAW THIS GIGANTIC BLANK LANDSCAPE THAT WAS EMPTY
AND WATERY, WITH SUNSHINE AND SOIL WE'RE GOING TO CREATE
AMERICA'S WINTER GARDEN.
IT WAS THE LARGEST LAND DEAL IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICA AT THAT
TIME.
HE PAID $1 MILLION FOR FOUR ACRES OF LAND WHICH WAS CRAZY.
WHAT THEY SAID, IF YOU CAN DRAIN IT, WE'LL GIVE YOU EVENING
MORE.
HE CAME OUT AND LIKE MAGGIE SAID IN THAT CLIP, HE TOOK
RESIDENTIAL AND STARTED ZIGGING CANALS NP EVERGLADES.
THEY WOULD COME OUT IN THE DRY SEASON AND SAID, THIS LOOKS
LIKES LAND.
IN THE SUMMER IT WOULD START TO RAIN AND IT WOULD START TO FLOOD
AND THREE SAID, THIS LOOKS MORE LIKE WATER.
DID YOU SCAM US?
YOU HEAR THE JOKES TODAY I'VE GOT SOME SWAMP LAND I WANT TO
SELL YOU.
THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT.
IT WAS ACCEPTED BECAUSE THIS HELPED FLORIDA GET OUT OF ITS
POSTCIVIL WAR DEBT.
WHEN YOU HEAR DRAIN THE SWAMP, WE'VE HEARD FROM CERTAIN
PRECINCTS AND WHAT IT MEANS IS WE'RE GOING TO FIX THE PROBLEM.
BACK THEN WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THE EVERGLADES THEY SAY THEY
WANT TO RECLAIMED THE EVERGLADES, IMPROVE THE
EVERGLADES, DEVELOP THE EVERGLADES, ALL VERY POSITIVE
WORDS RIGHT?
THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE GOING TO TURN IT INTO SOMETHING AWESOME,
THE PROGRESSIVE THING TO DO. AND MARJORIE STONEMAN DOUGLAS
SAID YOU ARE GOING TO REGRET THIS.
SHE WROTE A POEM, AN ODE TO TAMMIAMI TRAIL.
WE COME DOWN AND WE SEE WATER AND SAW GRASS AND WHY WOULD
ANYBODY WANT TO SAVE THIS?
ONCE YOU START TO LEARN TO APPRECIATE IT LIKE IF WAY OUR
DRINKING WATER SITS UNDERNEATH THE EVERGLADES, YOU HAVE THESE
PANTHERS AND GATORS AND WAITING BIRDS YOU DON'T SEE ANYWHERE
ELSE, IT IS A PASS, WE GET TO SAVE THE PLANET.
THE FIRST SENTENCE OF HER BOOK, THERE ARE NO OTHER EVERGLADES ON
EARTH.
THANK YOU SO MUCH.
THANKS FOR WRITING A BOOK AND BRINGING THIS ALL TO OUR
ATTENTION.
IT'S A GREAT PART OF FLORIDA HISTORY.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME ON.
AND THE SWAMP PREMIERS ON WPBT ON TUESDAY JANUARY 15th at 9 PM.
AND IF YOU'RE WATCHING WXEL, YOU CAN SEE IT THURSDAY JANUARY 17th at 8 PM.
YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS IT.