Arthur R. Marshall

Arthur Raymond Marshall Jr. (1919 – 1985) was a scientist and Everglades conservationist who spearheaded efforts to preserve Florida’s wetlands. Born in 1919, Marshall moved to West Palm Beach at the age of six and embraced the outdoor lifestyle of what was, at the time, a largely rural community. He was known to spend many hours fishing in Lake Worth off the center bridge to Palm Beach. As an adult, Marshall pursued a career as a biologist. He worked for 15 years for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and later became a professor at the University of Miami.

Everglades projects

As one development boom in Florida led to another, Art emerged as a voice for the already-threatened Everglades. He teamed up with friend Marjory Stoneman Douglas, widely regarded as the “First Lady of the EvergladesFact|date=February 2008” to defeat plans for the Cross Florida Barge Canal and the Big Cypress Jet Port, slated to be built in western Dade County. Both projects would have seriously threatened the area’s delicate wetland.

One of Marshall's ideas was the concept of “system generalists.” When applied to the Everglades, a generalist means professionals who are not simply scientists specializing in one discipline, but possess a full understanding of the chemistry, geology, hydrology, ecology and overall environmental significance of the system and also have an appreciation for its historic and aesthetic value.

He also wrote what is referred to as “The Marshall Plan” - a blueprint for Everglades restoration that is still viable today. The plan emphasized the need for 'sheet flow', the slow movement of surface water in a southerly direction that is natural to the Everglades ecosystem. The scheme helps retain water in the wetlands and preserves the original habitat found in the ancient Everglades.

Legacy

Douglas, author of the 1947 book "River of Grass", paid tribute to Marshall in some of her writing. In "Florida: the Long Frontier", she wrote, “Although my phrase 'River of Grass' first awakened people to the notion of the Everglades as a river, it was Arthur Marshall who filled in all the blanks. More than any other person, he stretched our idea of the Everglades and how we are connected, which created the most powerful arguments for restoring the ecosystem.”Fact|date=February 2008

In 1984, a year before his death, Marshall was named “Conservationist of the Decade” by the Florida Wildlife Federation. Today, three living memorials bear his name: the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Boynton Beach, the Arthur R. Marshall Eminent Scholar Chair, a million-dollar endowment in the Department of Zoology at the University of Florida, and the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation [ [http://www.artmarshall.org The Arthur R Marshall Foundation - website terms and conditions ] ] a non-profit West Palm Beach organization founded by Marshall’s nephew, John Marshall, in 1998. The Foundation has as its mission to preserve and restore the Florida Everglades, in part by educating young people and the public about Everglades ecology through comprehensive public outreach and environmental education programs.

References

External links

* [http://Everglades.fiu.edu/marshall Arthur Marshall's writings]