The Northern Everglades

About the Book

I created this book for people interested in the natural world, photography, conservation in Florida and the rejuvenating power of time spent in nature. Join me on a photographic exploration through the uncharted landscapes of Florida’s Northern Everglades. Follow the journey of water as it meanders through a matrix of lakes, rivers, sloughs, streams, creeks and wetlands en route to the Southern Everglades. Seeing these waters weave through centuries-old live oak hammocks, towering cypress canopies, dense pine forests and vast prairielands, you can’t help but feel as if you’ve rediscovered a piece of historical Florida unknown to modern man.

This photo documentary reveals the little-known sources of water that bring life to the Everglades of south Florida. More than two dozen interconnected shallow-water lakes lie scattered across the region, presenting myriad unique shorelines and landscapes. These lakes are known as the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, and together with the Kissimmee River and its vast floodplain, form the Kissimmee Basin watershed, the headwaters of Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. As the basin swells during the rainy season (June-October), water from the Chain of Lakes drains into the Kissimmee River and makes the 50-mile run south into Lake Okeechobee, where it eventually flows into the great sawgrass marshes of the Everglades.

Unlike some portions of the Everglades, which are relatively protected from development and further degradation through some sort of conservation status, much of the Northern Everglades run through privately owned farmlands and, in some cases, rural developments. In these areas, many once natural creeks, lakes and rivers have been channelized and the flow of water is now regulated and controlled by canals, ditches, levees and gates. While this delicate watershed has been altered and impacted by humans in many places, some landowners with a deep-rooted conservation ethic have managed their land to keep many of the native habitats relatively natural and intact.

Recognizing both the significance and vulnerability of the Northern Everglades, local, state, federal and private organizations have collaborated in an attempt to restore the natural pathway of water through the basin by backfilling canals and re-flooding historical wetlands and sloughs. These groups are working with landowners and stakeholders throughout the region to help protect the natural beauty of this watershed by creating the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area. The creation of the refuge is unprecedented because of its unique use of conservation easements in which the landowner retains ownership and the ability to work portions of the land to raise cattle or crops. If it comes to fruition, the refuge will span as much as 150,000 acres within the Kissimmee Basin. This will help ensure that the Northern Everglades, like no other place on earth, will be protected from development and that the region’s natural allure can be rediscovered by many generations to come.

About the Author

Brent Anderson has always been passionate about nature and spent his entire youth wandering through forests and marshes with a mission to simply remove himself from civilization and experience the natural world in its purest form. His ever-growing passion for nature became the driving force that inspired him to pursue an education in Biology. Shortly after completing a Master’s degree, Brent began working as a biologist on the large-scale ecological restoration of the Kissimmee River, which runs through the heart of the Northern Everglades. It was through his work as a Biologist that Brent quickly gained an appreciation for the interconnectedness of the varying habitats of the Northern Everglades’ complex ecosystem, and he has since fallen in love with the unparalleled beauty that it holds. It was nearly a decade ago that Brent was first introduced to the system, and he has been captivated ever since. Fascinated by the myriad of landscapes that this region has to offer, he has spent countless hours exploring the Northern Everglades at all hours of the day. Brent works to instill public awareness and initiate conservation efforts to help preserve what is left of Florida’s unique ecosystems. Using his photography as a window through which others can gaze through, he unveils the hidden landscapes from deep within the Northern Everglades that most think have been lost forever. Take a journey with Brent as he breaks trail to help protect and preserve one of Florida’s last remaining untamed tracts of wilderness.