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At the end of World War II, several southern states sought to sustain the economic growth they had experienced during the war. Many focused on building up their manufacturing, high-tech, and resource extraction industries. At the same time, tourism was poised to become an industry in the postwar South, especially in coastal states that could take advantage of the South's climate, natural beauty, and undeveloped natural areas. These two economic forces seemed destined to clash: many of the South's heavy and extractive industries defiled the environment, while tourism was often dependent on pristine environments.1
The South's postwar economic development also entailed changes in the identity, or at least the public image, of the South. The region's racist past, its backward reputation, its past hostility to the values of middle-class capitalism, and its legacy of secession were not generally compatible with the desires of business investors. This conflict was even more pronounced in the case of tourism, an economic activity that relied on the public's perceptions of place.2
Although the region's wartime economic growth was subsidized by the federal government, the rise of the Sun Belt South was inextricably and perhaps ironically linked to the emergence of modern conservatism.3 This political movement, devoted to tradition, the free market, and individual rights, was particularly attractive to many white southerners who confronted diverse economic, social, and cultural changes during and after World War II. In Florida, a third emergent force shaped the state's economic growth and political climate after the war: modern environmentalism.4 Environmentalism and ecological ideas about nature, along with conservative ideas about individual property rights and the role of the state, proved to he central to the state's development.5
The creation of Everglades National Park (ENP) in 1947 was deeply influenced by both environmentalism and conservatism and illustrates the diversity of conservative attitudes in the South toward nature.'1 Florida politicians saw the park as a centerpiece of the postwar tourism industry. This industry was predicated on the state's natural values: its climate, its beauty, its beaches, and its diverse and exotic flora and fauna. The key political figure in the fight for the park was Spessard L. Holland, a titan of Florida politics who parlayed his successful gubernatorial term during World War II into a twentyfive-year...