Douglas had spent much of her public life arguing that the Everglades was a system that was essential to South Florida | Wikimedia Commons
Her 1947 book, The Everglades: River of Grass , helped bring wider attention to the region, and she later became one of the most persistent voices against projects that threatened its water flow.
Douglas and other conservationists opposed plans for an Everglades jet port and argued that development in the area could damage the natural system, according to the University of Miami account. Douglas had spent much of her public life arguing that the Everglades was a system that was essential to South Florida. Their campaign succeeded and the proposed jet port was never built.
The organization joined other environmental groups in campaigning for the Dade County Referendum Environmental Preservation plan, and the measure established a $90 million fund for acquiring and protecting environmentally endangered land in the county. Douglas died at her Coconut Grove home on May 14, 1998, aged 108, which is why she did not see the full development of the county’s land-protection program. The Florida Department of State notes that she had remained active in conservation for much of her life and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton in 1993.
The University of Miami exhibition says that she supported several environmental initiatives during the 1980s, which included the Coastal Barrier Resources Act and Florida’s efforts to protect the Everglades. She continued pressing that argument through public campaigns, legal challenges and appearances before officials, which kept the Everglades in discussions about South Florida’s growth and water policy. Her work also helped establish conservation as a long-term political issue in the region, rather than a temporary response to individual development projects. Douglas was blind and dealing with health problems by the 1990s, but Friends of the Everglades continued its work.
