A new report estimates Hurricane Irma caused more than $5 million in damage to Everglades restoration.
The Audubon report estimates the Kissimmee River sustained the most damage, with $2 million.
The river’s restoration is the world’s largest of its kind, aimed at reestablishing 44 miles of its historic meanders and slowing the flow of water to beleaguered Lake Okeechobee.
The report also recommends funding for repairing damage to national parks and wildlife refuges. The Everglades’ water flows through five national and state parks and preserves.
The Everglades are the subject of the world’s largest restoration of its kind, a $17 billion federal and state effort encompassing more than 60 projects.
The report also says beach nesting birds benefited as Hurricane Irma left sandier beach for nesting by burying or killing encroaching vegetation.
