- [Betty] The way I feel it when I'm out there
is that I'm returning home.
It feels like the wind is embracing you.
The United States Government came to a truce with us
and because they figured that nobody could survive
in this vast wilderness,
they probably thought we were all going to die.
But our people, we were meant to be a part of nature.
The other foreigners coming
into this land didn't understand the environment
and didn't know her secrets, but our people did.
That's why we're here today.
[warm music]
♪
- [host, Joe Hanson] Some may see a swamp.
Others, a still body of water.
But the Everglades is actually a river,
the widest and slowest in the country.
A continuous stream of fresh water,
a hundred kilometers wide.
It meanders through south Florida
at four kilometers per day.
The Everglades is one of the largest wetlands on the planet.
More than a million acres filled
with plants and animals uniquely adapted
to this watery world.
For generations,
the Miccosukee people have called this home.
- [Betty] Back in the earlier days
in the history of Florida, when the US Cavalry,
when they were trying to hunt our people down
to force relocation,
the Everglades provided us a sanctuary.
If it wasn't for the Everglades, we wouldn't be here.
- [Joe] One of the secrets
to the Miccosukees' survival has been curious patches
of elevated land called tree islands.
- [Betty] The Miccosukee people,
when they came down into the Everglades,
they use the tree islands to live on.
The pine trees, they used those trees
to build shelter on the islands.
We honor those islands by taking care of them
and passing on the history of that island
to the future generations.
- [Joe] Thousands of tree islands are sprinkled
throughout the Everglades.
They're some of the only dry places around.
They range from the size of a swimming pool,
up to one kilometer long.
And there's a growing understanding
that they may be the key
to conserving this delicate ecosystem.
The islands support a surprising array of wildlife,
coyotes, deer, bobcat, even the Florida Panther.
In spite of their importance,
little is known about the role these islands play
in the ecosystem.
Scientists from the Miccosukee Tribe are trying
to change that.
- [Marcel] Prior to our project,
there's not really been anything that's known
about what wildlife use the islands,
how they use them, even basic information like diet,
it's not really known.
Using our trail cameras,
we're trying to figure out what species
of wildlife are also using the island.
- [Craig] Some of the most surprising animals
are the black bear.
I never thought that the bears
would be utilizing the Wetland habitat.
It's unknown at this time,
whether the bears are living out here
because it's a preferred habitat
or because the bear population has expanded so much
and its forcing bears out into other habitat.
And we're hoping that's what the research will inform us.
- [Marcel] We frequently see alligator holes adjacent
to the island.
A gator hole is a habitat that the alligator uses
and is typically a natural depression,
and they'll start to excavate it
to make it a little bit deeper and kind
of better for themselves.
Tree islands are the source of life and stability
for pretty much all species out here.
They kind of all depend on these tree islands
to maintain the balance of the ecosystem.
Sometimes they have completely different communities
and vegetation on them,
and that's going to affect what wildlife use those islands,
because the plants are kind of the base of everything.
It's their shelter, it's their food.
[Craig murmuring]
- [Craig] Certain vegetation will only grow
where it has the right niche.
Diversity on the tree islands is really important
because the greater diversity,
the greater amount of food you have for animals.
- [Joe] Some of the vegetation
on these islands like hardwood trees,
are particularly sensitive to fluctuations
in water levels.
Too much water and they drown, too little and they dry out.
- [Craig] High water is not necessarily a bad thing.
It's the duration of the flooding of tree islands
that is more of a problem.
- [Marcel] People began altering the flow of the water
in the Everglades back in the early 19 hundreds,
when the intent was to try to drain the land for agriculture
and for development.
They did this by creating a bunch of canals and levies
that were kind of diverting the natural flow
of water out towards the ocean.
- [Craig] And some areas are too dry,
some areas too flooded.
And so you don't get the historic flow that used to occur.
Tree islands now get flooded and they remain flooded
for a longer duration, anything from two to six months.
[water sloshing]
- [Betty] There are times that we can't use those islands
for ceremony.
So, that impacts the culture of the Miccosukee.
There are times that the deers don't have a place
to seek refuge because the islands can be up
to three feet underwater.
- [Craig] The small mammals
and the larger mammals just can't survive
for that length of time on inundated islands.
Small mammals are such an important part of the ecosystem
for transporting seeds into different areas.
[leaves rustling]
We are reintroducing some of the small animals back
onto tree islands.
[bouncy music]
[camera thuds]
- [Marcel] Certain species of plants
on the tree islands cannot tolerate flooding
for much more than 10 days a year.
The tree islands are essentially drowning.
- [Betty] And the islands itself start dying.
The tree roots are start dying.
And when the trees start dying on the island,
the roots of those trees is what holds the islands together.
So, the islands will start shrinking.
- [Joe] Without tree roots to hold onto the soil,
the islands erode and slowly disappear.
Nearly 70% of the tree islands have disappeared
since the 1940s.
That's largely due to flooding because
of how water flow has been managed.
- [Betty] We have tribal members today
that remember living on tree islands
and have seen the changes to this area.
Even in my short lifetime, I've seen the changes.
Our people were taught that in our time of need,
the Everglades was here for us.
So now that it's her time of need,
we have to stand up and protect her
because someone has to speak for the voiceless.
the Miccosukee People, we advocate
for reconnecting the landscape.
[boat whirring]
We need to heal the environment
because the way that it's being approached
for Everglades restoration is still man trying
to control nature.
I say, you need to get out of nature's way.
And when it rains, let the water go where water wants to go,
where water historically went.
The Everglades is precious.
It's the only one in existence on the world.
If it disappears, we're not going to have another one.
This place is yours.
It doesn't just belong to Florida.
The Everglades is a part of the world.
So, everyone has that right to have it protected so
that their future generations can experience the Everglades.
[warm music]
♪