PRESS RELEASE Tallahassee, Fla., Aug, 15, 1934. Ernest F. Coe, Chairman, Everglades National Park Association before The Tallahassee Rotary Club at the Floridian Hotel to-day. President Roosevelt said in a recent over-the-air address "There is nothing so American as our national parks." "They have become indeed a 'pleasuring groun' for millions of Americans." Florida need not be told that she is a fortunate State and has been through the years. Added to her other good fortunes will soon be the distinction of being a national park state, thus adding a national "pleasuring ground" for millions of people," [sic] to her present attractions to the tourist and homeseeker. The Everglades National Park will occupy about 2,500 square miles of the south tip of the State; an area designated by the United States Weather Bureau as climatically tropical, a distinction not held by any other section of Continental United States. This vast wilderness empire is not only distinct climatically in comparison with the other national park areas. It is uniformly low lying, while our other national park areas are mountainous. Practically the whole area is composed of a labyrinth of interlocking lakes, gulfs, and connecting water ways dividing up the land areas into thousands of islands, coastal reaches of miles of lovely beaches, open glades studded with island-like wooded hammocks and tropical jungle forests. In the past Florida has looked upon these millions of acres where the State slips off into the Gulf of Mexico, as a hopeless area and of no economic account. All attempts to prove to the contrary, have failed and our energies have been turned to more promising fields. Only the Seminole and the fearless white man hunter have penetrated its fastnesses and intrepid fishermen have sought its inland waterways. Stories have been written and tales told of this unconquered primeval mystery-land; of its hundreds of thousands of strange birds and other equally interesting features. This it is the last stand of much of Florida's wilf life, once so abundant throughout the State, is not generally known. Bear and panther roam vast expanses of the area at will, even to-day. That this strictly unique vast region has an outstanding future as one of the most visited and enjoyed of all the national parks "a pleasuring ground for millions of Americans" is not yet generally understood. Last May Congress passed, and the President signed, the Everglades Park Enabling Act Bill. This Act authorizes the Everglades National Park and places the federal government ready to accept the park area when ceded to it by the State of Florida. The work of acquiring the land is for a Commission appointed by the Governor of Florida to do. The Commission has the authority to acquire the land by act of the State Legislature. When the park is ceded to the United States, it will be added to the national park system and be known as the Everglades National Park. It will be administered, protected and developed by and at the expense of the federal government in common with the other national parks. Quoting from recent letter from Governor Dave Sholtz "The Everglades National Park should be seen by everyone of the hundreds of thousands of visitors annually coming to Florida. No other spot in the United States excels it in enchantment, mystery and strangeness of scenery and wild animal life. Here we find nature unchanged through eons of time." Florida is a most favored State in that the Everglades National Park will be eventually, counted among its attractions,. [sic] The sooner the Park becomes a reality the better for all concerned. The national park touring public, millions strong, is even now waiting to visit the Everglades National Park just as soon as it is open to the public and facilities for access are established. It will be one of the Nation's "pleasuring grounds" amid unique scenes, whose fascinations are as yet unfamiliar to most people, but who, once tasting these charms, will want to come again and again.