A 79-year-old woman charged $1 to join her club. It killed Nixon’s mega-airport in the Everglades.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas’s $1 Campaign Against Big Cypress Jetport

In 1968, the Dade County Port Authority broke ground on what would be the world’s largest airport in the heart of Florida’s Big Cypress Swamp.

The massive 39-square-mile complex would dwarf JFK Airport five times over. But Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a 79-year-old writer from Coconut Grove, wasn’t having it.

After a visit from Joe Browder, she put down one dollar and started Friends of the Everglades right from her cottage home. Soon, her fiery talks across Florida built an army of 3,000 members.

Their fight paid off when President Nixon cut funding in 1970, saving what would later become Big Cypress National Preserve.

Today, her modest cottage stands as a testament to how one person can change the course of history.

Florida Officials Dreamed of Building a Supersonic Airport in the Swamp

Dade County Port Authority bought 39 square miles of Big Cypress Swamp in 1968, just six miles north of Everglades National Park.

They started building what they planned as the world’s biggest airport, five times larger than JFK with six runways for supersonic planes.

The project aimed to handle 50 million travelers and make room for Boeing 2707 supersonic jets that would fly over water to avoid noise complaints.

Workers finished the first 10,500-foot runway and taxiway by 1969, while Florida builders and flight officials buzzed with excitement.

Water Flow Concerns Sparked Early Opposition to Massive Project

Robert Padrick, who ran the local Flood Control District, spotted trouble right away. He saw the jetport would mess up the water flow to Everglades National Park.

In early 1969, Padrick wrote to over 100 nature lovers, starting widespread pushback.

John Rafferty from the National Park Service felt he couldn’t stop the project but asked builders to put it as far from the park as possible.

Environmental groups soon began working together as they understood how the jetport threatened the ecosystem.

An Audubon Representative Knocked on a Famous Author’s Door

Joe Browder from the National Audubon Society visited 79-year-old Marjory Stoneman Douglas at her cottage in 1969.

Douglas wrote the famous 1947 book “The Everglades: River of Grass” but wasn’t sure about trading writing for activism. Browder told her creating a group would give their efforts more power than speaking alone.

Douglas agreed and started Friends of the Everglades, making herself the first member by paying the one-dollar fee she set.

The 79-Year-Old Writer Hit the Road to Save Her Beloved Swamp

Douglas traveled all over Florida giving countless talks against the jetport despite her poor eyesight. Friends of the Everglades grew to 3,000 members within three years, all run from her home.

She managed everything from her Tudor-style cottage while builders mockingly called her a “damn butterfly chaser.”

The fight grew beyond just nature lovers to include hunters, swamp folks, and the Miccosukee Tribe, whose sacred sites workers bulldozed during building.

The Government Launched Its First Florida Environmental Study

Interior Secretary Walter Hickel created a special team on June 2, 1969, to check how the jetport would affect the environment. He picked water expert Luna Leopold from the U.S. Geological Survey to lead the first environmental study ever done in Florida.

Arthur Marshall from Fish and Wildlife Service and other scientists worked on what people later called the Leopold Report. This study started a new way to look at environmental impacts that later shaped federal rules.

Scientists Warned the Jetport Would Destroy the Everglades

The “Environmental Impact of the Big Cypress Swamp Jetport” report came out on September 17, 1969. It warned that jetport building would completely ruin the south Florida ecosystem and Everglades National Park.

The scientists found that the needed drainage and building would stop the vital water flow from Lake Okeechobee.

The National Academy of Sciences shared matching findings the next day, giving scientific backing to those fighting the jetport.

Local Politicians Changed Their Minds as Pressure Built

Nathaniel Reed, who advised Florida Governor Claude Kirk, used the Leopold Report to get the governor to switch sides.

Reed and Browder sat front row at a 1970 public meeting where the Dade County mayor brushed off 102 environmental concerns as “under study.”

Governor Kirk later suggested putting the jetport in Palm Beach County instead. News coverage and growing public anger created strong political push against the project.

President Nixon Stepped In to Stop the Bulldozers

President Richard Nixon told his Secretaries of Interior and Transportation to fix the jetport problem in late 1969. The Nixon team saw that losing Big Cypress would hurt the nation as environmental worries grew.

Interior Secretary Hickel blocked jetport money by keeping the Transportation Department from listing the project for airport funding. Building stopped despite the big money already spent and one finished runway.

Government Agencies Signed a Deal to Protect the Swamp

The Everglades Jetport Pact became official in January 1970 with signatures from key government officials. This deal banned any new building at the jetport site but let the finished runway stay for possible future use.

The area around the airstrip became a spot for watching environmental changes to track long-term effects of the existing development.

This win showed how local groups with scientific proof and political pressure could beat powerful building interests.

The Supersonic Dream Crashed When Boeing Lost Funding

Congress pulled money for the Boeing 2707 supersonic program after a House vote on May 20, 1971.

This canceled the American supersonic aircraft program and removed the main reason for building the massive Everglades jetport.

The airline industry moved away from supersonic passenger travel because of money and environmental concerns.

The jetport site stayed with just one runway and taxiway, a reminder of abandoned flight dreams and successful environmental activism.

A National Preserve Rose From the Ashes of Airport Plans

The environmental coalition used their jetport victory momentum to push for permanent protection of Big Cypress Swamp.

President Gerald Ford established Big Cypress National Preserve on October 11, 1974, creating the nation’s first national preserve.

This action protected over 700,000 acres of critical Everglades watershed from future development threats.

Friends of the Everglades continued their advocacy work while the jetport site became Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, surrounded by protected lands.

Visiting Marjory Stoneman Douglas House, Florida

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas House at 3744 Stewart Avenue in Coconut Grove isn’t open to visitors yet, but Florida State Parks is working on making it accessible.

This National Historic Landmark from 2015 is where Douglas started Friends of the Everglades in 1969 at age 79 to stop the massive Everglades Jetport.

The house is part of The Barnacle Historic State Park system and getting repairs for future exhibits about her environmental activism.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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