Everglades National Park Quarter
The final quarter released in 2014 from the US Mint will be the Everglades National Park Quarter. This strike, the 25th of 56 in the United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters® Program, will honor the Everglades National Park in Florida.
The Everglades National Park Quarter will not enter circulation until late 2014. It will be the last of five strikes released as part of the program that year fulfilling the mandate of five annual releases dictated by the legislation which authorized the coins – the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, which eventually became Public Law 110-456.
Those quarters slated to be issued in 2014 previous to the Everglades National Park Quarter will honor the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Shenandoah National Park, Arches National Park, and the Great Sand Dunes National Park, in that order.
Everglades National Park information
The Everglades National Park of Florida is unique in that it is a protected ecosystem, not a geological feature. This delicate ecosystem was in danger of extinction by the early 1900s as people saw the area as valuable farmland. However, there is a diverse group of species that make this area home that needed to be protected. Thus, in 1934, the park was created. But due to the Great Depression, it was not officially dedicated until 1947.
There are over 350 species of birds, several types of venomous snakes, sea turtles and other exotic animals that live in the Everglades. Thanks to the slow moving water system, which is actually a river, the ecosystem is able to support this wide array of animal life.
The most famous resident of the Everglades National Park is the American crocodile. However, most of the dangerous species that live in the park often shy away from humans, leaving the attack rate very low.