Travel with filmmaker Elam Stoltzfus along the Kissimmee River and surrounding regions. Meet the “Keepers of the Land” and experience a sense of place in the vast open spaces in the cattle country of Florida‘s private and public lands.
Throughout the centuries, the Everglades have inspired strong emotion and debate among soldiers and poets, politicians and citizens. Its history is as broad and sprawling as the River of Grass itself. Although many stories have been told about the Everglades – from drainage to restoration – few have been told about where it all begins: the Kissimmee River Basin. Restoration and protection of the natural values of this vast, watery landscape may well hold the key to restoration of the Greater Everglades ecosystem.
WUSF-TV Tampa will begin broadcast on June 21, 2012
KBNE will be released on June 23rd and will begin to be featured on PBS TV stations across the country for three years. Check your local PBS TV listings for broadcast dates.
The Kissimmee Basin: The Northern Everglades invites you to take a trip up the Kissimmee Valley back through time to discover the well-reasoned, yet unforeseen, consequences of a flood control project that turned the 103-mile long meandering river full of life, into a 52-mile long, multi-million dollar over-engineered channel that drained the surrounding wetlands, caused the disappearance of large flocks of wading birds, and a significant decline of an abundant freshwater fishery.
“Kissimmee Basin area …that’s one of the areas of Florida that you can still go to and, if you look for it, it’s there, you can see Florida just like it was seventy-five, a hundred, or more years ago”.
– Patrick Smith, Author – A Land Remembered
In the documentary, “Kissimmee Basin: The Northern Everglades”, cinematographer Elam Stoltzfus captures the magnificent beauty of Florida’s heartland. This story documents the unique history of the region and succinctly states contemporary issues that affect this area. By the end of the video, viewers are left with a better understanding as to what they can do to preserve the Kissimmee Basin for future generations.
– Rick Dantzler, Co-chairman, Northern Everglades Alliance
