lorida's ecosystem is an interconnected wonder that stretches from the North Florida forests into the Ocklawaha basin, down to Lake Okeechobee, through the Everglades and into Florida Bay. In the 1990s, the Chiles/MacKay team cast aside Florida's piecemeal approach to environmental protection and worked to manage the state's entire ecosystem.

Preservation 2000, the nation's most progressive and successful public land acquisition program, plays an important role in ecosystem management. The program has worked to acquire more than 1 million acres of precious habitat, protecting the state's water supply and providing open space for public use. The Chiles/MacKay administration made funding for Preservation 2000, the nation's largest land-buying program, a top priority.

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) took other great strides in improving the environment and protecting endangered and threatened species. Nesting activities for the loggerhead turtle reached a record high of 80,000 nests in 1995. The number of bald eagles also increased from 400 nests in 1986 to 900 nests in 1996. Due to successful protection efforts, the bald eagle was taken off the Endangered Species List and is now considered a threatened species.