Editing Biscayne National Park (section)

==Human history==
===Native people===
{{stack|[[File:Shell-Midden.jpg|thumb|alt=Conch and whelk shells among trees|Piles of [[conch]] and [[whelk]] shells left behind by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].]]}}
[[Indigenous peoples of Florida|Native Americans]] were present in lower Florida 10,000&nbsp;years ago, when ocean levels were low and Biscayne Bay was comparatively empty of water. Water levels rose from about 4000&nbsp;years ago and inundated the bay.<ref name=bischrs2>{{cite web|last=Leynes|first=Jennifer Brown|title=Chapter 2: Background History|url=http://www.nps.gov/bisc/historyculture/upload/bischistoricresourcestudy.pdf|work=Biscayne National Park Historic Resource Study|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=28 November 2012|author2=Cullison, David|page=1|date=January 1998}}</ref> Archeologists believe any traces left by the peoples of that era are now submerged; none now exist on dry lands in the park. The [[Cutler Fossil Site]], just to the west of the park, has yielded evidence of human occupation extending to at least 10000&nbsp;years before the present.<ref name=leynes910>Leynes, Cullison, Chapter 2, pp. 9–10</ref>

The earliest evidence of human presence in Biscayne dates to about 2500&nbsp;years before the present, with piles of [[conch]] and [[whelk]] shells left by the [[Glades culture]]. The Glades culture was followed by the [[Tequesta]] people, who occupied the shores of Biscayne Bay. The Tequesta were a sedentary community that lived on fish and other sea life, with no significant agricultural activity.<ref name=npsbisc3>{{cite web|title=Native Peoples|url=http://www.nps.gov/bisc/historyculture/native-peoples.htm|work=Biscayne National Park|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=19 November 2012}}</ref> A site on Sands Key has yielded potsherds, worked shells and other artifacts indicating occupation from at latest 1000&nbsp;[[Common Era|CE]] to about 1650, after contact was made with Europeans.<ref name=leynes910/> Fifty significant archaeological sites have been identified in the park.<ref name=npca33>NPCA, p. 33</ref>

===Exploration===
[[Juan Ponce de León]] explored the area in 1513, discovering the Florida Keys and encountering the Tequesta on the mainland. Other Spanish explorers arrived later in the 16th century and Florida came under Spanish rule. The Tequesta were resettled by the then-Spanish government in the Florida Keys, and the South Florida mainland was depopulated.<ref name=npsbisc3/> Ponce de León referred to the bay as "Chequescha" after its inhabitants, becoming "Tequesta" by the time of Spanish governor [[Pedro Menéndez de Avilés]] later in the century. The present name has been attributed to a shipwrecked [[Basque people|Basque]] sailor known as the "[[Biscayne (ethnonym)|Biscaino]]" or "Viscayno" who lived in the area for a time, or to a more general allusion to the [[Bay of Biscay]].<ref name=blank1>{{cite book|last=Blank|first=Joan Gill|title=Key Biscayne: A History of Miami's Tropical Island and the Cape Florida Lighthouse|year=1996|publisher=Pineapple Press|isbn=978-1-56164-096-6|page=13}}</ref>

Spanish treasure fleets regularly sailed past the Florida Keys and were often caught in hurricanes. There are 44 documented shipwrecks in the park from the 16th through the 20th centuries. At least two 18th-century Spanish ships were wrecked in the park area.<ref name=miller1>Miller, p. 6</ref> The Spanish galleon ''Nuestra Senora del Popolo'' is believed to have been wrecked in park waters in 1733, though the site has not been found.<ref name=npca33/> [[HMS Fowey (1744)|HMS ''Fowey'']] was wrecked in 1748<ref name=npca32>NPCA, p. 32</ref> in what is now Legare Anchorage, at some distance from the Fowey Rocks. The discovery of the ship in 1975 resulted in a landmark court case that established the wreck as an archaeological site rather than a salvage site.<ref name=skowronek1>{{cite journal|last=Skowronek|first=Russell K.|author2=Vernon, Richard H.|author3=Fischer, George R.|title=The Legare Anchorage shipwreck site—Grave of HMS Fowey, Biscayne National Park, Florida|journal=International Journal of Nautical Archaeology|date=November 1987|volume=16|issue=4|pages=313–324|doi=10.1111/j.1095-9270.1987.tb00606.x}}</ref>  43 wrecks are included on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in the [[Offshore Reefs Archeological District]], which extends for {{convert|30|mi|abbr=on}} along the seaward side of the Biscayne National Park keys.<ref>Leynes, Cullison, Chapter 2, p. 12</ref><ref name=fdhr1>{{cite web|title=Offshore Reefs Archeological District|url=http://www.flheritage.com/facts/reports/places/index.cfm?fuseaction=FullImage&id=137|publisher=Florida Division of Historical Resources|access-date=12 January 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008032217/http://www.flheritage.com/facts/reports/places/index.cfm?fuseaction=FullImage&id=137|archive-date=8 October 2012}}</ref>  During the 18th century, Elliott Key was the reputed base of two different pirates, both called [[Black Caesar (pirate)|Black Caesar]], commemorated by Caesar's Creek between Elliott and Old Rhodes Key.<ref>Miller, p. 9</ref><ref name=bnmproposal4>{{cite web|title=Man and the Coral Reefs|url=http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/bisc/proposal/sec5.htm|work=Biscayne National Park: A Proposal|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=12 January 2013}}</ref>

===Settlement and pre-park use===
{{stack|[[File:Cocolobo Cay Club Harding 1.jpg|thumb|U.S. President [[Warren G. Harding]] and fishing party at the Cocolobo Cay Club.]]}}

The first permanent European settlers in the Miami area did not come until the early 19th century. The first settlements around Biscayne Bay were small farms on Elliott Key growing crops like [[key lime]]s and [[pineapple]]s. [[John James Audubon]] visited [[Elliott Key]] in 1832.<ref>Miller, p. 11</ref> Colonel [[Robert E. Lee]] surveyed the area around Biscayne Bay for potential fortification sites in 1849.<ref name=bnmproposal4/> At the end of the [[American Civil War]] in 1865, a number of [[Confederate States of America|Confederates]] passed through the area as they were attempting to escape to [[Cuba]]. Elliott Key was a brief stopping point for [[John C. Breckinridge]] during his flight to Cuba. The former United States vice president, Confederate general and Confederate secretary of war spent two nights in Biscayne Bay on his journey.<ref>Leynes, Cullison, Chapter 2, p. 13</ref> Few people lived in the park area until 1897, when Israel Lafayette Jones, an African-American property manager, bought Porgy Key for [[United States dollar|US$]]300 ({{Inflation|US|300|1897|fmt=eq|r=-2}}). The next year Jones bought the adjoining Old Rhodes Key and moved his family there, clearing land to grow limes and pineapples.{{fact|date=November 2024}}

In 1911, Jones bought {{convert|212|acre|ha|adj=on}} Totten Key, which had been used as a pineapple plantation, for a dollar an acre, selling in 1925 for US$250,000.<ref name=burnspsb1>Shumaker, p. 53</ref> Before Israel Jones' death in 1932<ref name=npsbisc4>{{cite web|title=The Joneses of Porgy Key|url=http://www.nps.gov/bisc/historyculture/the-joneses-of-porgy-key-page-2.htm|page=2|work=Biscayne National Park|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2012-11-19}}</ref> the Jones plantations were for a while among the largest lime producers on the Florida east coast.<ref>Shumaker, p. 55</ref>

[[Carl G. Fisher]], who was responsible for much of the development of [[Miami Beach, Florida|Miami Beach]], bought [[Adams Key]], once known as Cocolobo Key, in 1916 and built the [[Cocolobo Cay Club]] in 1922. The two-story club building had ten guest rooms, a dining room, and a separate recreation lodge. Patrons included [[Warren G. Harding]], [[Albert Fall]], [[T. Coleman du Pont]], [[Harvey Firestone]], [[Jack Dempsey]], [[Charles F. Kettering]], [[Will Rogers]] and [[Frank Seiberling]].<ref>Miller, pp.19–20</ref><ref name=shumaker57>Shumaker, p. 57</ref> Israel Jones' sons Lancelot and Arthur dropped out of the lime-growing business after competition from Mexican limes made their business less profitable, and after a series of devastating hurricanes in 1938 they became full-time fishing guides at the Cocolobo Club. The club had declined with the [[Wall Street crash of 1929|crash of 1929]] which cost Fisher his fortune, but was revived by [[Garfield Wood]] in 1934.<ref name=Shumaker59>Shumaker, p. 59</ref> Among the Joneses' clients was avid fisherman [[Herbert Hoover]] and his family. The Joneses also provided the club with fish, lobster and crabs. Arthur and Lancelot Jones were the second largest landowners and the only permanent residents of the lower Biscayne Bay keys during the 1960s.<ref name=npsbisc5>{{cite web|title=The Joneses of Porgy Key|url=http://www.nps.gov/bisc/historyculture/the-joneses-of-porgy-key-page-3.htm|work=Biscayne National Park|publisher=National Park Service|page=3|access-date=2012-11-19}}</ref> Wood sold the Cocolobo Cay Club to a group of investors led by Miami banker [[Bebe Rebozo]] in 1954, who renamed it the Coco Lobo Fishing Club. Clients guided by the Joneses through the 1940s and 1950s included then-senators [[John F. Kennedy]], [[Lyndon Johnson]], [[Richard Nixon]], [[Herman Talmadge]], and [[George Smathers]].<ref name=Shumaker61>Shumaker, p. 61</ref>

During the [[Cold War]] the future park area was a training ground for Cuban exiles training for missions in [[Fidel Castro]]'s Cuba. Elliott Key in particular was used by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] as a training area in the early 1960s in preparation for [[Bay of Pigs Invasion|Bay of Pigs invasion]]. The largest facility was Ledbury Lodge, the only hotel ever built on the key. As late as 1988 a group of Cuban exiles were arrested when they tried to use the key for a mock landing. Farther north, exiled Venezuelan president [[Marcos Pérez Jiménez]] kept a house on Soldier Key until he was extradited in 1963.<ref name=hach1>Hach, pp. 35–36</ref>

===Proposed development===
[[File:Boca Chita Miami skyline NPS1.jpg|thumb|alt=Aerial view of Boca Chita Key with the skyline of Miami in the distance|[[Boca Chita Key]] lighthouse and the [[Miami]] skyline]]
[[File:Turkey Point FL1.jpg|thumb|alt=Power plant smokestacks and cooling units|[[Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station|Turkey Point Power Station]]]]
As modern communities grew in and around Miami, developers looked to southern [[Miami-Dade County, Florida|Miami-Dade County]] for new projects. The undeveloped keys south of [[Key Biscayne, Florida|Key Biscayne]] were viewed as prime development territory.

Beginning in the 1890s, local interests promoted the construction of a causeway to the mainland. One proposal included building a highway linking the [[Biscayne Bay]] keys to the [[Overseas Highway]] at [[Key Largo, Florida|Key Largo]] and to the developed barrier islands to the north.<ref>Miller, pp. 17–18</ref> At the same time, pressure built to accommodate industrial development in [[South Florida]]. This led to competing priorities between those who wanted to develop for residential and leisure use and those in favor of industrial and infrastructure development. On December 6, 1960, 12 of the 18 area landowners who favored development voted to create the City of [[Islandia, Florida|Islandia]] on [[Elliott Key]].<ref name=mozingo1>{{cite news|last=Mozingo|first=Joe|title=Tiniest Town in Fla. an Almost-Was; Islandia Held Promise for Development Until National Park Swallowed 33 Keys|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=March 9, 2003}}</ref> The town was incorporated to encourage Dade County to improve access to Elliott Key, which landowners viewed as a potential rival to [[Miami Beach, Florida|Miami Beach]]. The new city lobbied for causeway access and formed a negotiating bloc to attract potential developers.<ref name=npsbisc10>{{cite web|title=The Birth of Biscayne National Park|url=http://www.nps.gov/bisc/historyculture/the-birth-of-biscayne-national-park.htm|work=Biscayne National Park|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=20 November 2012}}</ref>

In 1962, an industrial seaport was proposed for the mainland shores of Biscayne Bay, to be known as SeaDade. SeaDade, supported by billionaire shipping magnate [[Daniel K. Ludwig]], would have included an oil refinery. In addition to the physical structures, it would have been necessary to dredge a {{convert|40|ft|m|adj=mid|-deep }} channel through the bay for large ships to access the refinery. The channel would have also required cutting through the coral reef to get to the deep water.<ref name=npsbisc10/> In 1963 [[Florida Power and Light]] (FP&L) announced plans for two new 400-[[megawatt]] oil-fired power plants on undeveloped land at [[Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station|Turkey Point]].<ref>Miller, p. 46</ref>

Many local residents and politicians supported SeaDade because it would have created additional jobs, but a group of early environmentalists thought the costs were too high. They fought against development of the bay and formed the Safe Progress Association. Led by Lloyd Miller, the president of the local chapter of the [[Izaak Walton League]], ''[[Miami Herald]]'' reporter [[Juanita Greene]], and Art Marshall, the opponents of industrialization proposed the creation of a national park unit that would protect the reefs, islands and bay.<ref name=npsbisc10/> After initial skepticism, the park proposal obtained the support of ''Miami Herald'' editors,<ref name=duncan1>{{cite book|last=Duncan|first=Dayton|title=The National Parks: America's Best Idea|url=https://archive.org/details/nationalparksame00dunc|url-access=registration|year=2009|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|isbn=978-0-307-26896-9|author2=Burns, Ken|page=[https://archive.org/details/nationalparksame00dunc/page/351 351]}}</ref>  as well as Florida Congressman [[Dante Fascell]] and Florida Governor [[Claude R. Kirk Jr.]], and were supported by lobbying efforts by sympathetic businessmen including [[Herbert Hoover, Jr.]]<ref name=mayr1>{{cite book|last=Mayr|first=Monika|title=Everglades Betrayal:The Issue that Defeated Al Gore|year=2008|publisher=Two Harbors Press|isbn=978-1-935097-04-4|pages=72–73}}</ref>

One vision of Islandia, supported by land owners, would have connected the northern [[Florida Keys]] from [[Key Biscayne, Florida|Key Biscayne]] to [[Key Largo, Florida|Key Largo]], with bridges and created new islands using the fill from the SeaDade channel. Although Miami-area politicians and the state of Florida did not support Ludwig's SeaDade plans, Islandia's supporters continued to lobby for development support. In 1968, when it appeared the area was about to become a national monument, Islandia supporters bulldozed a highway six lanes wide down the center of the island, destroying the forest for {{convert|7|mi|km}}. Islandia landowners called it Elliott Key Boulevard, but called it "Spite Highway" privately. It was hoped that since there was so much environmental damage, no one would want it for a national monument. Over time in the near-tropical climate, the forest grew back and now the only significant hiking trail on Elliott Key now follows the path of Elliott Key Boulevard.<ref name=npsbisc10/>

The oil-fired Turkey Point power stations were completed in 1967–68 and experienced immediate problems from the discharge of hot cooling water into Biscayne Bay, where the heat killed marine grasses.<ref>Miller, pp. 48, 59, 61, 64</ref> In 1964 FP&L announced plans for two 693 MW nuclear reactors at the site,<ref>Miller, p. 48</ref> which were expected to compound the cooling water problem. Because of the shallowness of Biscayne Bay, the power stations were projected to consume a significant proportion of the bay's waters each day for cooling. After extensive negotiations and litigation with both the state and with Ludwig, who owned lands needed for cooling water canals, a closed-loop canal system was built south of the power plants and the nuclear units became operational in the early 1970s.<ref>Miller, pp. 69, 76–79</ref>

Portions of the present park were used for recreation prior to the park's establishment. Homestead Bayfront Park, still operated by Miami-Dade County just south of Convoy Point, established a "blacks-only" segregated beach for African-Americans at the present site of the Dante Fascell Visitor Center. The segregated beach operated through the 1950s into the early 1960s before segregated public facilities were abolished.<ref name=npsbisc15>{{cite web|last=Lawson|first=Charles|title=Park Seeks Recollections of Homestead's "Blacks Only" Beach|url=http://www.nps.gov/bisc/parknews/blacks-only-beach-oral-histories-sought.htm|work=Biscayne National Park|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref>

===Park establishment and history===
[[File:Biscayne NM proposal NPS1.png|thumb|alt=Map of the original Biscayne National Monument|Biscayne National Monument as proposed in 1966]]
[[File:Columbus Day weekend boaters at Biscayne Bay.jpg|thumb|alt=Boats on Biscayne Bay|[[Columbus Day]] boating crowd]]
The earliest proposals for the protection of Biscayne Bay were part of proposals by Everglades National Park advocate [[Ernest F. Coe]], whose proposed Everglades park boundaries included Biscayne Bay, its keys, interior country including what are now Homestead and [[Florida City, Florida|Florida City]], and Key Largo. Biscayne Bay, Key Largo and the adjoining inland extensions were cut from Everglades National Park before its establishment in 1947.<ref name=grunwald1/> When proposals to develop Elliott Key surfaced in 1960, Lloyd Miller asked Secretary of the Interior [[Stewart Udall]] to send a Park Service reconnaissance team to review the Biscayne Bay area for inclusion in the national park system. A favorable report ensued, and with financial help from Herbert Hoover, Jr., political support was solicited, most notably from Congressman Fascell.<ref name=alvarez1>{{cite news|last=Alvarez|first=Lizette|title=A Florida City That Never Was|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 8, 2012}}</ref> A {{convert|90|acre|ha|adj=on}} area of Elliott Key was by this time a part of the Dade County park system.<ref name=bnmproposal2>{{cite web|title=Present Use|url=http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/bisc/proposal/sec2.htm|work=Biscayne National Monument: A Proposal|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=13 January 2013}}</ref> The 1966 report noted the proposed park contained the best remaining areas of tropical forest in Florida and a rare combination of "terrestrial, marine and amphibious life," as well as significant recreational value. The report found the most significant virtues of the potential park were "the clear, sparkling waters, marine life, and the submerged lands of Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Here in shallow water is a veritable wonderland."<ref name=bnmproposal6>{{cite web|title=The Case for Preservation|url=http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/bisc/proposal/sec6.htm|work=Biscayne National Monument: A Proposal|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=13 January 2013}}</ref>

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Public Law 90–606 to create Biscayne National Monument on October 18, 1968. The monument was expanded in 1974 under Public Law 93-477 and expanded again when the monument was redesignated a national park by an act of Congress<ref name=npsbisc10/> through Public Law 96-287, effective June 28, 1980. The 1980 expansion extended the park almost to Key Biscayne and included Boca Chita Key, the Ragged Keys and the Safety Valve shoal region, together with the corresponding offshore reefs and a substantial portion of central Biscayne Bay.<ref name=gmpbisc-a>{{cite web|title=Biscayne National Park General Management Plan: Appendix A|url=http://www.nps.gov/bisc/parkmgmt/upload/GMP%201983_part8.pdf|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=21 November 2012|year=1983}}</ref><ref name=draftgmp1>NPS, ''Draft General Management Plan'', pp. 295–299</ref><ref name=npca9>NPCA, p. 9</ref>

The first Islandia property owner to sell land to the [[National Park Service]] was Lancelot Jones, together with Katherine Jones, Arthur's widow. They sold their lands for $1,272,500, about a third of the potential development value. Jones was given a life estate on {{convert|3|acres|abbr=on}} at the age of 70. He visited with park rangers stationed at the former Cocolobo Club, which eventually burned down in 1975. The other life estate in the park was held by Virginia Tannehill, the widow of [[Eastern Airlines]] executive Paul Tannehill.<ref>Shumaker, p. 64</ref> Jones' house built by Lancelot, his father and his brother, burned down in 1982. He lived in a two-room shack for the next ten years, riding out hurricanes on Porgy Key, but left his home permanently just before Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The house was destroyed and Jones remained in Miami until his death in 1997 at 99&nbsp;years.<ref>Shumaker, p. 66</ref>

Deprived of a rationale for existence by the national monument's establishment, Islandia languished. The hiring of a police chief in 1989 prompted questions from the National Park Service to the Dade County [[state's attorney|state attorney's office]], headed by [[Janet Reno]]. In 1990 Reno's office determined after investigation that all of the town's elections were invalid, since the elections were restricted only to landowners, not residents.<ref name=mozingo1/> The town was finally abolished by the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners in March 2012.<ref name=alvarez1/>

The impact of Hurricane Andrew on neighboring [[Homestead Air Force Base]] caused the Air Force to consider closing the base and conveying it to Miami-Dade County, which was interested in using the base for commercial air traffic as an alternative to [[Miami International Airport]]. An environmental impact study concluded the resulting flight paths over the bay, only {{convert|2|mi|abbr=on}} to the east, would result in degradation of the park. In 1999 The Air Force prohibited major commercial development at Homestead as a result.<ref>Miller, pp. 137–139</ref>

The park's popularity as a destination for boaters has led to a high rate of accidents, some of them fatal. The [[Columbus Day]] weekend has been cited as the "most dangerous weekend of the year." An annual boating regatta in its 57th year in 2012 resulted in six deaths between 2002 and 2011, with damage to seabeds from vessel groundings and littering.<ref name=npt1>{{cite news|title=Biscayne National Park Preparing For "Most Dangerous Weekend" Of The Year|url=http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2012/09/biscayne-national-park-preparing-most-dangerous-weekend-year10526|access-date=21 November 2012|newspaper=National Parks Traveler|date=September 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028032734/http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2012/09/biscayne-national-park-preparing-most-dangerous-weekend-year10526|archive-date=2012-10-28|url-status=dead}}</ref> Although official regatta activities take place outside the park, the area of Elliott Key has become a popular destination for some participants.<ref name=npsbisc14>{{cite web|title=Biscayne National Park Gears Up for Most Dangerous Weekend of the Year|url=http://www.nps.gov/bisc/parknews/columbus-day-weekend.htm|work=Biscayne National Park|publisher=National Park Service|date=September 11, 2012|access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref>

A fifth generating unit fueled by natural gas and oil was added to the Turkey Point generating station in 2007.<ref name="reuters">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/rbssUtilitiesElectric/idUSN1344614220081013|title=FPL Fla. Turkey Point 4 reactor shut|date=October 13, 2008|agency=Reuters|access-date=November 21, 2012|first=Scott|last=DiSavino}}</ref> In 2009, Turkey Point was proposed as the site of two new 1117&nbsp;MW [[AP1000]] nuclear reactors, to be designated Turkey Point 6 and 7. If built, the new reactors would make Turkey Point one of the largest generating sites in the United States.<ref name=nrc1>{{cite web|title=Turkey Point, Units 6 and 7 Application|url=https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/turkey-point.html|publisher=Nuclear Regulatory Commission|access-date=21 November 2012|year=2012}}</ref> Other neighboring influences on the bay are the agricultural lands of south Miami-Dade County, a sewage treatment facility on the park boundary at Black Point, and its neighbor, the South Miami-Dade Landfill.<ref name=npca14>NPCA, p. 14</ref>