An employee of the Miccosukee Tribe holds a baby alligator during an environmental and cultural education event at Miccosukee Indian Village, Saturday, April 20, 2024, in the Florida Everglades. The Earth Day event is one of many initiatives by tribe members aimed at building appreciation for the Everglades' unique and important ecosystem, as well as support to protect and heal it. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Miccosukee Tribal elder Michael Frank walks along a raised walkway on Rice Island, one of several tree islands once inhabited by his family, on the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in Florida's Everglades, Thursday, July, 11, 2024. Frank, 67, who was born on a different tree island, continues to maintain the family's chickees, stilt homes, traditionally used for sleeping, eating, and gathering. The tribe no longer live on tree islands, but remain closely connected to their land through cultural, spiritual and environmental practices. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
An osprey lands in its nest Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Florida's Everglades National Park.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
An anhinga spreads its wings to dry them as night falls in Florida's Everglades National Park, Friday, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Miccosukee Tribal elder Michael Frank stands on raised walkways connecting chickees, stilt homes, he built above the waterlogged ground on Rice Island, one of several tree islands once inhabited by his family, on the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in Florida's Everglades, Thursday, July, 11, 2024. A lone pole from a chickee built by his grandfather still stands at left. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Curtis Osceola, right, chief of staff for the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, speaks to members of a task force that brings together federal, state, tribal and local agencies working to restore and protect the Florida Everglades, during a field visit to the Miccosukee Indian Reservation ahead of a task force meeting hosted by the tribe, Wednesday, April 24, 2024 on the Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Gregory Evans, an employee of the Miccosukee Tribe's Fish and Wildlife Department, encourages reluctant raccoons to leave a crate as they are released onto the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in the Florida Everglades, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. The Miccosukee Tribe partners with the South Florida Wildlife Center to rehome rescued and rehabilitated animals from native species such as raccoons, screech owls and squirrels. Populations of small mammals in the Everglades have been decimated by flooding, habitat loss and the proliferation of invasive pythons. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
A tree is reflected in waters covered with spatterdock inside Florida's Everglades National Park, Friday, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Chickees, or stilt homes, connected by walkways raised above waterlogged ground are seen on Rice Island, one of several tree islands where the family of Miccosukee Tribal elder Michael Frank once lived, in the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in Florida's Everglades, Thursday, July, 11, 2024. Frank, 67, who was born on a different tree island, continues to maintain the family's chickees, traditionally used for sleeping, eating, and gathering. The Miccosukee no longer live on tree islands, but remain closely connected to their land through cultural, spiritual and environmental practices. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Hector Tigertail, a young member of the Miccosukee Tribe who has has become active in efforts to protect the Everglades environment that is so tightly interwoven with Miccosukee history and identity, poses for a portrait on the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in the Florida Everglades, Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)