Everglades

Robot rabbits are the latest effort by the South Florida Water Management District to eliminate as many pythons are possible from the Everglades, where they are decimating native species.

Federal officials are complying with a judge's order and have stopped sending immigrants to a detention center in the Everglades, less than two months after Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration launched the facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" in support of President Donald Trump's mass deportation efforts.

A federal judge is hearing closing arguments over whether to stop construction indefinitely at an immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” The judge is considering Tuesday whether the facility violates environmental laws.

Two influential environmental groups suing state officials over construction of Alligator Alcatraz are sounding the alarm over what they say is a “catastrophe” unfolding at the remote site of the state-manage controversial immigration detention facility.

With its efforts to bring the art and environment closer together since 2001, the non-profit Artists in Residence in the Everglades (AIRIE) has not only grown in size, but in depth. Each year, the organization selects approximately 12 artists to be part of their residency program, which lasts for one calendar month, where artists stay in a cabin within the Everglades National Park.

Tom Van Lent was handcuffed in a Miami courtroom and taken to jail to begin serving a 10-day jail sentence in a case that divided the normally tightknit Florida environmental community. It caps a three-year battle between the hydrologist and his former bosses at the Everglades Foundation, who accused him of stealing trade secrets.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis provided no materials explaining how he concluded Alligator Alcatraz has "zero impact." Environmental groups filed a lawsuit for failing to conduct an environmental assessment.

One of the largest flocks of American flamingos in a decade was spotted in the Everglades last week by avian ecologist and restoration scientist Mark Cook. The previous largest group was a flock of 147 flamingos in 2014.

On the same day President Donald Trump visited the immigrant detention facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” environmental advocates said they fear wildlife may forever steer away from the fragile wetlands if the temporary project becomes a permanent one.

Environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit to block a migrant detention center being built on an airstrip in the heart of the Florida Everglades. The lawsuit filed Friday seeks to halt the project until it undergoes a stringent environmental review as required by federal law. The lawsuit filed in Miami federal court says there is also supposed to be a chance for public comment.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration is racing ahead with construction of a makeshift immigration detention facility at an airstrip in the Everglades over the opposition of Native American leaders who consider the area their sacred ancestral homelands.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said he believes people are trying to use the Everglades as a "pretext" for opposing immigration enforcement. He also mentioned there may be plans to do something similar at Camp Blanding in North Florida.