Preserve, Protect & Restore The Everglades Founded in 1969 by Marjory Stoneman Douglas. At Friends of the Everglades we compel government agencies to comply with existing environmental laws, and resist any efforts to weaken such laws. Encourage politicians to recognize the long consequences of their actions. Spread awareness of the importance of the Everglades to the South Florida ecosystem. “There are no other Everglades in the world. They are, they have always been, one of the unique regions of the earth; remote, never wholly known. Nothing anywhere else is like them…” — Marjory Stoneman Douglas