Governor Jeb Bush

State of Florida
Everglades Restoration and Investment Act
Signing Ceremony
Everglades National Park
May 16, 2000

Remarks by
J.Allison DeFoor, II
Everglades Policy Coordinator
to Governor Jeb Bush

Today history is made. Governor Bush and all of us as witnesses, stand today in an unbroken line that stretches back almost a century to 1905 when a brave group of women stood against the prevailing political winds of the age, which called for the development of the Everglades from coast to coast. The women of the Coconut Grove Women’s Club, who at the time could not even vote, recognized the beauty and true value of the Everglades, when the men and politicians did not. The agitated to create a state park on this very site, Paradise Key, and gained the help of Mrs. Flagler-Henry who gave the land. This became the seed for all to follow. Then began the long march towards protection in which we are all now participants.

Mary Mann Jennings, wife of Governor Jennings (he favored development of the `Glades) was president of the state Federal of Women’s Clubs. She joined the fight, and was present 30 year later when this national park was created. She enlisted an in-law, Ruth Bryan Owen (daughter of William Jennings Bryan - a three-time nominee for president of the Democratic Party) in the cause. Serving as the first woman congressman from the South, she wrapped a corn-snake around herself on the floor of the Congress to press her point.

Together, they recruited Majorie Stoneman Douglas, and her father Frank Stoneman, the first editor of the Miami Herald. She wrote The River of Grass, and he wrote favorable editorials. His successor, John Pennekamp, not only wrote similar editorials, but played poker with the president of the Florida Senate to secure funding. Ernie Coe, David Fairchild and others joined the fray. After many battles, this national park was dedicated in 1947.

A then up and coming politician named Dante Fascell joined the parade, as the state and federal governments worked together to protect America and Florida’s Everglades. Another rising star named Bob Graham became an ally. Citizen activists, such as, Nathaniel Reed and George Barley demanded to be heard on the issue, George paying the ultimate price for the cause. So it is that we stand here today, with two governors, Broward and Bush, standing as bookends of a century of Everglades efforts, with the side of the ladies of the Coconut Grove Women’s Clubs having prevailed, and with a Republican governor taking the lead. Who could have foreseen it in 1905?

And I submit, as a Florida historian, that 100 years from now this Governor and this Legislature will be remembered well for what they have done, acting boldly and hugely, and faithfully in this legacy.

Remarks provided by Allison DeFoor, II.

J. Allison DeFoor II, served under Governor Jeb Bush as Florida’s first policy coordinator on the Everglades, January 1999 - May 2000. He has also served as a Monroe County judge and Sheriff in addition to being the Republican nominee for Lt. Governor in 1990. He is a seventh generation Floridian born in 1953.

J. Allison DeFoor II's Bio Page

For additional information on the signing ceremony:

Governor Jeb Bush Signing Ceremony, May 16, 2000, Everglades National Park 
(Evergladesvillage.net Internal)

Gov. Bush Signs Everglades Legislation
(Florida Department of Environmental Protection, May 16, 2000)
Florida commits to Everglades
(Miami Herald, May 17, 2000)
$2B for Everlades restoration work
Naples Daily News, May 17, 2000)
$2 billion advances 'Glades cleanup
(Sun-Sentinel, 6/17/00)

For additional information on the Everglades restoration:

Governor's Save Our Everglades Update
Governor's Commission for the Everglades
South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force

Theodore Roosevelt Society:
Floridians joining together to protect Florida's
environmentally sensitive areas by assuring that development is a balance of
responsible stewardship of the land and economic progress. 
http://www.trsociety.org

Evergladesvillage.net