By Yufei Mao
Floridians preferred the expansion of Everglades restoration efforts more than residential and commercial development, according to the latest research from the UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education.
Overall, respondents to the PIE Center’s online survey opposed unrestricted land development. Floridians might have taken note of the consequences from previous development expansion, according to PIE Center Director Tracy Irani.
Forty percent of respondents in the online survey strongly disagreed with limiting restoration efforts in the Everglades to allow for commercial development, while only six percent strongly agreed.
“We’re just getting out of a real estate crash where parts of Florida were overbuilt, both residentially and commercially,” Irani said. “There may be a connection where people say continued development and expansion is not as important as it was before. Protection is more important.”
Respondents, however, made a slight distinction between residential and commercial development in the Everglades. Forty percent of people disagreed that restoration efforts in the Everglades should be limited to allow for commercial development, while 36 percent disagreed with limiting restoration efforts in favor of residential development.
In fact, respondents were strongly in favor of increasing Everglades protection efforts rather than residential and commercial development. Seventy percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that restoration programs should be expanded even if it limits commercial development, and 69 percent felt the same even if it limited residential development.
The Everglades provide habitat for wading and migratory birds, panthers, manatees and deer and maintains a rich diversity of plants, fish and other wildlife in South Florida. The wetlands originally spanned 4,000 square miles, but the Everglades have been reduced to less than half that by human development and drainage attempts, according to the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and Florida Museum of Natural History.
The online survey about endangered species involved 499 respondents across the state and is a part of a series of public opinion surveys. Two previous topics are water quality and quantity, as well as immigration reform.
