When the report was finally released, Leopold began by stating his strong opposition to the plan: "Development of the proposed jetport and its attendant facilities will lead to land drainage and development for agriculture, transportation, and services in the Big Cypress Swamp which will inexorably destroy the south Florida ecosystem and thus the Everglades National Park."[7] A report from the National Academy of Sciences was subsequently published the next day supporting the findings of the Leopold report.[7]
Outcome
Because the jetport did not meet the necessary standards, Walter Hickel opposed it. Hickel successfully defeated the construction of the jetport by preventing it from being listed by the Department of Transportation for funding under an airport development program.[8] Although construction of only one runway was completed, the remains of the Everglades Jetport was later opened as the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport and is sometimes used as an aviation training facility.
Davis, Jack E. (Jan 2003). "'Conservation Is Now a Dead Word': Marjory Stoneman Douglas and the Transformation of American Environmentalism". Environmental History. 8 (1). Forest History Society and American Society for Environmental History: 53–76. doi:10.2307/3985972. JSTOR3985972. S2CID145203614.
Davis, Jack E. (2009). An Everglades Providence: Marjory Stoneman Douglas and the American Environmental Century. University of Georgia Press. ISBN978-0-8203-3071-6.
Gunderson, Lance H.; C. S. Holling; Stephen S. Light (1995). Barriers and Bridges to the Renewal of Ecosystems and Institutions. Columbia University Press. ISBN0-231-10102-3.