Everglades in Trouble, Book signing, and The Big Green daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

The Big Green, Jo-Ann Sanborn, 2012

Acrylic on board, 5" x 7"

The Everglades, our big, beautiful, picturesque, magical, exotic, and unique green landscape is in trouble.  Just a little research shows we are on the edge of a potential natural failure in this part of the world. 

Some of the indicators are:

A 90-95% reduction in wading bird population!

Over 1.5 million acres under attack by invasive plants and animals!

A million acres under health advisories for mercury contamination!

68 endangered species of plants and animals threatened!

Decline in fish populations, with fish kills and deformed fish occurring!

Am I an alarmist?  I hope so, because I have faith in our ability to clean up after ourselves and to do better once we understand what the problems are. 

Which Everglades preservation organization are you supporting? 
You can google Everglades Preservation to find your own, or find a list of several good ones in my book.  There, in addition to photos of my paintings through the years, you will find words about the systems of the Everglades. 

A dollar from the sale of every book will go towards Everglades preservation.  The Friends of the Fakahatchee and the Everglades Foundation have already benefited with donations.    

You can pick up a copy at the Art Center of Marco Island on Thursday, March 22, 3:-4:30.  I'll be joining artist Bill Mosley and photographer Joel Gewirtz for a book signing.  My first!  Should be fun.