Factors That Led To The Establishment Of Biscayne National Park

Picture this, you live in a big city. Full of noise, traffic, and chaos. Your stress level is way over your head. A vacation to a relaxing island would be perfect. “The Florida Keys is one of the most famous and most visited island groups in the world,” (The Birth of Biscayne National Park). “There are an estimated 2.5 million residents,” (Source 3). Biscayne National Park (A National Park down in the Florida Keys) is an interactive and show stopping tourist attraction for all ages. Not only have over 8 million annual visitors been down to the Keys, but so have two of the United States presidents. There were many contributing factors that led to the establishment of Biscayne National Park, but some main reasons include, many people wanted
Around 1897, Israel Jones (African-American male) purchased Porgy Key, located in south Florida right above Totten Key and Old Rhodes Key (Source 2), for $300. Jones began growing pineapples and limes (Source 1) and “Over time, the Jones family became one of the largest pineapple and lime producers on Florida’s eastern coast,” (Source 1). Limes became less profitable so Jones’s sons decided to turn toward fishing and guiding tours. Years later, Lancelot (the son of Jones who guided tours) was asked to sell the land to an oil refinery developer, but refused as he wanted to keep the natural land protected (Source 1). The Jones family was determined to keep the land as healthy and beautiful as possible. As said in the text, Lancelot did not agree to sell the land, as he wanted to keep it protected (Source 1). If Lancelot had sold the land to the oil refinery company, the company could have damaged the land or the water around the island. Not only could the oil company have damaged the land but it could kill ocean life. A few years ago, there was and oil spill. The oil killed some sea creatures and hurt many others. Without Lancelot’s smart thinking the Keys could be
“Throughout the 1960’s, a battle was waged between investors who wanted to to develop the Keys into a tourist paradise and others who wanted to preserve it’s natural beauty,” (Source 1). This problem became harder to solve, so “Congress decided to create the Biscayne National Park Monument to protect the area,” (Source 3). That Monument was created about 40 years ago, and since then the Park and the 50 more Keys (ancient coral reef islands) have kept their natural habitat and the life on the islands have kept their beloved