Back in 1870, when only 85 people lived along the coast of southeastern Florida, an estimated 2 million waiting birds inhabited the Everglades during dry seasons.

During the late 19th century, plume hunting reduced these birds to only several hundred thousand. This dramatic loss

spurred protective laws in Florida and in New York where the plumes had been shipped to

millinery houses.

Thus protected, the waiting bird population rebounded

to near its original level.

Then in the 1940s and after,

the character of the Everglades itself began to change.

As South Florida grew, the Everglades shrank.

Its waters controlled for man's uses.

By the mid-1970s, waiting bird numbers had dropped back to a few hundred thousand,

about ten percent of what it had been a century before.

Biologists actively study these birds looking for clues that might lead to stopping or even reversing the decline.

As yet, the only thing that is certain is that life in the Everglades is more fragile than anyone ever thought.

That's a passage from Jack D'Golias, the story behind the scenery from 1978.

I'm Jason Epperson, and on this episode of America's National Parks, Everglades National Park protects 1.5

million acres of Florida's southern tip. It's the first federal land protected not

for beauty but for conservation. But the creation of the park was only the beginning.

The Everglades have spent the last hundred years under siege.

Our story is of the woman who protected them time and time again.

Marjorie Stoneman Douglas.

This land is your land.

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