Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 76 is a roundtable on the future of the Everglades, recorded just after Governor DeSantis made a bold move 48 hours into office — calling for the entire South Florida Water Management District board to resign and committing 2.5 billion dollars to Everglades restoration. I sat down with three people who live this issue from different angles: Shannon Estenoz, COO of the Everglades Foundation; Captain Josh Greer, a fishing guide and shop owner; and Daniel Andrews, co-founder of Captains for Clean Water. This is a real conversation about water, policy, and the fishery that depends on getting it right.
▶ Watch on YouTube · 🎧 Listen now
This roundtable features Shannon Estenoz, Chief Operating Officer of the Everglades Foundation; Captain Josh Greer, a fishing guide and shop owner; and Daniel Andrews, co-founder of Captains for Clean Water. Each brings a different perspective — policy, on-the-water guiding, and grassroots advocacy — to the future of the Everglades.
Within 48 hours of taking office, Governor DeSantis called for the entire South Florida Water Management District board to resign and committed 2.5 billion dollars to Everglades restoration. It was a dramatic early move that signaled water and the Everglades would be a priority, and it sets the stage for this roundtable conversation.
The Everglades Foundation is a leading organization dedicated to restoring and protecting the Everglades ecosystem through science, advocacy, and policy. Shannon Estenoz, the foundation's COO, represents that institutional, science-driven side of the restoration effort in this discussion.
Captains for Clean Water is a grassroots advocacy organization co-founded by Daniel Andrews, focused on clean water and the restoration of Florida's waterways and the Everglades. It grew out of the fishing-guide community's firsthand experience with water-quality crises and mobilizes anglers and the public around the issue.
The health of the Everglades and South Florida's water directly affects the fisheries that guides like Captain Josh Greer depend on for their livelihood. Water management, restoration funding, and clean-water policy determine whether those fisheries thrive or collapse, which is why anglers and guides are so deeply invested in the outcome.
This Tom Rowland Podcast roundtable on the future of the Everglades is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts. The video version is embedded at the top of this page.
The Everglades is not an abstract issue to me or to anyone who fishes South Florida — it is the water our fisheries depend on. When Governor DeSantis came into office and immediately called for the water management board to resign and put 2.5 billion dollars toward restoration, it was the biggest political moment for the Everglades in years.
So instead of one guest, I wanted a roundtable — the policy side, the guiding side, and the advocacy side in the same room. Press play in the YouTube player at the top of this page to hear all three perspectives.
A big number in a press release is one thing. What it means on the ground is another. The panel digs into what DeSantis's early move — calling for the South Florida Water Management District board to resign and committing 2.5 billion dollars — could actually do for restoration, and what has to happen for it to matter. Listen to how the experts read it.
Shannon Estenoz brings the Everglades Foundation's science-and-policy perspective to the table. She explains what real restoration requires, where the leverage points are, and how decades of work fit into this moment. Press play to hear the institutional view.
Captain Josh Greer guides these waters and sells the gear people use to fish them, and Daniel Andrews started Captains for Clean Water out of exactly that frustration. They describe what the water crisis looks like from the front of a boat — the algae, the lost trips, the threatened livelihoods. Hear the on-the-water reality in the episode.
One of the most interesting threads is how the fishing community turned firsthand frustration into real political pressure through groups like Captains for Clean Water. The panel talks about how that movement formed and why it has been effective. Listen to how grassroots advocacy moved the needle.
Listen to the full conversation: ▶ Watch on YouTube · 🎧 Listen now
What I came away with is that the future of the Everglades depends on all three of the perspectives in this room working together — the policy people, the guides, and the advocates. No single one of them gets it done alone.
The DeSantis commitment was a genuine moment of hope, but hope is not a plan. The people in this conversation are the ones doing the actual work, and listening to them is the best way I know to understand what is really at stake. Press play and hear it.
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Shannon Estenoz is the Chief Operating Officer of the Everglades Foundation, a leading science-and-policy organization dedicated to restoring and protecting the Everglades. Captain Josh Greer is a fishing guide and shop owner who works South Florida's waters every day. Daniel Andrews is a co-founder of Captains for Clean Water, a grassroots advocacy group born out of the fishing-guide community's fight for clean water. Together they represent the policy, professional, and grassroots fronts of the effort to secure the future of the Everglades.
Subscribe to get the latest episodes, show notes, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.