Spanning some 2 million acres in South Florida, from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay,
the Everglades is one of the world's largest wetlands and the most important breeding ground
for tropical wading birds in North America. 

The water that flows through this vast region unites a mosaic of distinct habitats that support
 more than 1,500 animal and plant species, including numerous threatened and endangered species.
The artwork on this Priority Mail® stamp shows a sawgrass swamp viewed at sunset
from the edge of a cypress dome. In the foreground, a group of mature bald cypresses shelters
 a great egret in flight while a great blue heron waits patiently for its prey.
Nearby, a half-submerged American alligator, a keystone species in the Everglades,
moves through the shallow, slow-moving water toward the shadow of the dome.
 In the background, the swamp meanders toward the horizon, dotted with islands of trees,
 while roseate spoonbills and other waterfowl soar overhead. Life in the Everglades
 depends on water and fire. In spring, storms drench the region almost every afternoon. The water
that covers this low landscape trickles so slowly to the south that it often appears not to move at all.
In autumn, the rains stop and the water recedes. Periodic fires prevent grasses and other
vegetation from taking over during the dry season.  They also open up
the treetops to let in more sunlight and clear undergrowth, returning nutrients to the soil.
Within days of a fire, new growth begins to appear.

Today, much of the Everglades is protected within Everglades National Park,
the first national park in the United States established for subbiodiversity. Tribal lands
 and many other federal, state, and private parks and sanctuaries also protect the Everglades,
including Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary,
 and Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, which is home to large colonies
of wading birds and attracts thousands of migratory waterfowl each year.