BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – There’s more to Florida than golf courses, beaches and Disney.
Recently, our Local 10 Eco Hero team ventured into wild Florida, and that’s where our Eco Hero winner, 13-year-old Sienna Robertson, met a unique South Florida man with a passion for the Florida Everglades.
“My family’s been around Florida for eight generations. In 1910, they ended up in Davie, Florida, where I grew up,” conservationist “Alligator Ron” Bergeron said.
From humble beginnings in Davie, Bergeron built a South Florida land development empire.
But the land he truly loves is the Florida Everglades.
“My grandfather was a game warden. And how blessed am I for him to put me in an airboat when I was 3 years old, and I remember the beauty of God’s landscape and the wildlife and the sunsets, and it impressed me and I grew up to be a gladesman,” Bergeron said.
The man known as “Alligator Ron” is proud to be a gladesman -- a tireless champion for the protection and restoration of the Florida Everglades.
“The gladesman are the original families that moved into Florida a century ago, loving the environment, living in the environment and being part of protecting it for future generations,” Bergeron explained.
Alligator Ron and his wife Allie -- a Fort Lauderdale-based attorney -- own Green Glades West, a sprawling 8,000-acre ranch only 30 minutes from civilization, but seemingly a world away.
It’s a glimpse into what Florida used to be.
Alligator Ron was eager to share his passion for the Everglades and its diverse wildlife with Robertson.
“I wanted to bring you in here to show you a tree that’s been dated between 450-500 years old!” Bergeron told Robertson. “It was here before America was formed -- a lot of history in this majestic and mysterious swamp.”
Our Eco Hero team, led by Zoo Miami ambassador Ron Magill, spent a chilly weekend in January exploring the ranch and spending time with the amazing wildlife there, including a close encounter with a mama bear and her cub.
The protection of the Everglades is important to the wildlife as well as to those of us living in South Florida. Our water is replenished and filtrated in these very wetlands.