Lissandra Mendoza, 6, right, and her brother Saydel, 3, visiting from Miami with their family, play on an alligator statue during a day-long 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)
A Miccosukee Tribe member wearing a traditional skirt walks past booths during a day-long 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)
Airboats carry members of a task force that brings together federal, state, tribal and local agencies working to restore and protect the Florida Everglades, on a field visit to the Miccosukee Indian Reservation ahead of a task force meeting hosted by the Miccosukee Tribe, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Gregory Evans, an employee of the Miccosukee Tribe's Fish and Wildlife Department, watches as a rehabilitated red-shouldered hawk he released takes flight, on the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in the Florida Everglades, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. The 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)
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)
Miccosukee Tribal elder Michael Frank grasps his walking stick as he speaks with members of a task force that brings together federal, state, tribal and local agencies working to restore and protect the Florida Everglades, on a field visit to the Miccosukee Indian Reservation ahead of a task force meeting hosted by the Miccosukee Tribe, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
A catch of fish from invasive species is assessed by judges during the fifth annual "Removal of the Swamp Invaders" fishing tournament, part of an Earth Day environmental and cultural education event at Miccosukee Indian Village, Saturday, April 20, 2024, in the Florida Everglades. Marcel Bozas of the Miccosukee Tribe's Fish and Wildlife Department, which organizes the competition, said 70% of fish now found in the Everglades are exotic species, which interfere with the ability of native fish species to eat and breed. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Miccosukee Tribal elder Michael Frank, top left, rides an airboat with members of a task force that brings together federal, state, tribal and local agencies working to restore and protect the Florida Everglades, on 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)
Trainer Jessie Cottone, a non-tribe member employed by the Miccosukee Tribe, demonstrates traditional techniques for subduing and controlling gators, during a day-long 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)
Raccoons explore their new environment after being released on 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 raccoon cautiously pokes its head out of a crate as a dozen raccoons 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)
Members of a task force that brings together federal, state, tribal and local agencies working to restore and protect the Florida Everglades stand beside chickees, thatched-roof, open-sided platform huts used traditionally for cooking, sleeping, and gathering, on Big Hammock, one of the largest tree islands within the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in the Florida Everglades, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Hector Tigertail, a young member of the Miccosukee Tribe, listens to Tribal elder Michael Frank speak about the environmental degradation he has witnessed over his lifetime, and the importance of the Everglades homeland to Miccosukee history and identity, on the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in the Florida Everglades, Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Curtis Osceola, chief of staff for the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, uses a machete to cut back branches of an invasive Brazilian pepper tree on Big Hammock, one of many tree islands inside the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in the Florida Everglades. The tribe's Fish and Wildlife Department, as well as individual members, take an active role in invasive species control and native species reintroduction. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Chickees, 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)
Trainer Jessie Cottone, a non-tribe member employed by the Miccosukee Tribe, demonstrates traditional techniques for subduing and controlling gators, during a day-long 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 speaks to members of a task force that brings together federal, state, tribal and local agencies working to restore and protect the Florida Everglades, on a field visit to the Miccosukee Indian Reservation ahead of a task force meeting hosted by the Miccosukee Tribe, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Miccosukee Tribal elder Michael Frank walks past chickees, stilt homes, used for community activities, on the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in the Florida Everglades, Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)