Is there anything “good” about Everglades restoration?
Will restoration become a practice that turns out ecosystems as predictable commodities, in perfect order, according to the principles of technical expertise? Alternatively, will it remain a heterogeneous ambition, one imbued with community intelligence and scientific modesty? (Higgs 2003: 187) Introduction The current, large-scale attempt at restoring Florida’s Everglades ecosystem is complex, multifaceted, and contentious, and is an undertaking that shines a spotlight on the strengths and limits of the ecological restoration concept. At a broad scale, Everglades restoration potentially demonstrates the power of a concept that has emerged as a prominent feature of environmental protection efforts in communities and at various levels of government. At a different scale, it is potentially evidence of an advertised paradigm shift in resource management and other government agencies that impact environments (see Bavington and Slocombe 2002), such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the C
