Marjorie Harris Carr 1915-1998
Florida Environmentalist
Marjorie Harris Carr was passionate about saving Florida's nature. Carr grew up in southwest Florida near Bonita Springs. She could see that when developers used land for businesses, the environment could be hurt.
Carr went to college and studied the science of plants and animals. After college, she worked at a business where fish eggs are hatched. Carr saw the beautiful Ocklawaha River for the first time there.
Years later, the building of the Cross Florida Barge Canal threatened the ancient Ocklawaha River. In 1968, 16 miles of river were dammed and the nearby lands flooded. Fish and mammals lost the ecosystem they had depended on for hundreds of years. An ecosystem is a community of plants and animals and the soil, air, and water they share.
Carr led the effort to stop the canal from being finished. She founded a group called the Florida Defenders of the Environment. They organized other Floridians to help save the river. Carr and her group were able to prevent another 20 miles of the Ocklawaha River from being dammed and nearby lands flooded. The canal was never finished and the dammed area is now a reservoir. Today, Floridians are still working to accomplish her dream of making the Ocklawaha River an entirely free-flowing waterway once again.
Critical Thinking
What might be the long-term benefits of making the Ocklawaha River a free-flowing waterway again?