On Thursday May 10, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. journalist and author Michael Grunwald will present “The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise.” The talk will be held in the Byrd Auditorium at the National Conservation Training Center, Shepherd Grade Road, Shepherdstown, WV.

The Everglades was once reviled as a liquid wasteland, and Americans dreamed of draining it. Now it is revered as a national treasure, and Americans have launched the largest environmental project in history to try to save it. The Swamp is the stunning story of the destruction and possible resurrection of the Everglades, the saga of man’s abuse of nature in southern Florida and his unprecedented efforts to make amends. Michael Grunwald, a prize-winning journalist for TIME magazine, takes readers on a riveting journey from the Ice Ages to the present, illuminating the natural, social and political history of one of America’s most beguiling but least understood patches of land.

Michael Grunwald has been a senior national correspondent for TIME Magazine since July 2007. He has won the George Polk Award for national reporting, the Worth Bingham Prize for investigative reporting, the Society of Environmental Journalists award for in-depth reporting, and many other honors. After graduating from Harvard College in 1992, Mike worked as a reporter for The Boston Globe. In July 1998, he joined the national staff of The Washington Post, where he served as an investigative reporter, New York bureau chief and Outlook essayist; he also wrote the Post’s lead news story on the September 11 attacks. At TIME, he has written cover stories on topics ranging from biofuels to California to the future of the Republican Party. Mike has also contributed to The New Republic, Slate, Foreign Policy and other publications. Michael is the featured author and moderator during June and July for America’s WILD READ, a lively on-line discussion about books and essays that communicate conservation through stories and cultivates visions, thoughts, and wild ideas for conservation in action going forward.

The presentation is free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations are required. It is part of a monthly “Conservation Lecture Series” held at the National Conservation Training Center. For more information please contact Mark Madison at (304) 876-7276 or mark_madison@fws.gov or visit the lecture series web page at: nctc.fws.gov/history/publiclectures.html

The National Conservation Training Center is the home of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a leader in environmental sustainability. The center provides exemplary training tailored to support Service employees and conservation partners in the accomplishment of the agency’s mission. For more information about NCTC or our green practices, visit nctc.fws.gov. Connect with our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/usfwsnctc, follow our tweets at www.twitter.com/usfwsnctc.The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.