Ron DeSantis has been delivering on his promise to protect Florida’s environment.
But critics never expected him to team up with this unlikely partner.
And DeSantis just pulled off one move that tripled python removals and has environmentalists stunned.
DeSantis turns to private sector to solve decades-old environmental crisis
The Florida Everglades has been under siege for nearly 50 years. Burmese pythons — massive apex predators that can grow over 20 feet long and weigh more than 200 pounds — have been decimating the ecosystem since the 1970s.¹
These invasive snakes have no natural predators in Florida.
The damage they’ve caused reads like an environmental horror story.
Raccoon populations have crashed 99.3 percent since 1997.
Opossums are down 98.9 percent. Bobcats have declined 87.5 percent. Marsh rabbits, cottontail rabbits, and foxes have effectively disappeared.²
A single female python can lay up to 100 eggs at a time.³
Experts estimate between 100,000 to 300,000 of these monsters are slithering through South Florida right now.⁴
They’re not just eating small mammals either — pythons have been caught devouring alligators and even federally endangered Key Largo wood rats.⁵
For decades, state and federal agencies tried everything. Bounty programs.
Annual python challenges. Trained hunters combing the swamps.
The South Florida Water Management District announced in 2020 they’d hit a "milestone" of 5,000 pythons removed since the program started.⁶
That sounds impressive until you realize the estimated population is in the hundreds of thousands.
At that pace, Florida would need centuries to make a real dent in the problem.
DeSantis knew the government-run approach wasn’t cutting it.
So last year he did something that had environmental activists scratching their heads — he partnered with a Miami-based luxury leather company called Inversa.
Partnership with fashion industry delivers results bureaucrats couldn’t
Here’s where it gets interesting.
Inversa doesn’t just hunt pythons — they turn the snake skins into high-end fashion products. Wallets, boots, belts, handbags.
The kind of stuff that shows up in Vogue and gets sold in boutiques from Paris to New York.⁷
The company was founded by three entrepreneurs who started by turning invasive lionfish into leather while scuba diving in Florida waters.⁸
They built a business model around a simple concept: make removing invasive species profitable, and you’ll get a lot more removed.
FWC partnered with Inversa in May 2025, and the results left everyone stunned.
In July 2025 alone, they removed 748 pythons — more than the entire previous year.⁹
From May through July, they pulled 1,022 pythons from the Everglades compared to just 343 during that same period in 2024.¹⁰
DeSantis announced the results at a press conference in Stuart.
"In the first three months since transitioning to the program with Inversa on May 1, FWC and Inversa have tripled the number of python removals," DeSantis said.¹¹
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1980787203144892418
The partnership hit its two-year objectives in just three months — a year and a half ahead of schedule.¹²
Economic incentives drive success where government programs failed
The secret?
Money talks. Inversa pays hunters about 60 percent more per snake than the state was paying.¹³
When you’re trudging through swamps in 95-degree heat looking for camouflaged 15-foot snakes, that extra cash matters.
But it’s not just about higher pay.
The hunters know there’s a real market for what they’re catching. Inversa has deals with about 25 fashion brands.
Their python leather gets made into products that retail for hundreds of dollars.¹⁴ Some brand partners see their python leather collections sell out in just five days.¹⁵
"We’re basically putting a bounty on the head of every single one of these pythons to try to provide an economic incentive," DeSantis explained.¹⁶
The approximately 50 hunters who previously contracted directly with FWC now work for Inversa, and the state has a single contract with the company.¹⁷
That streamlined approach cut FWC’s management workload by 89 percent, freeing up staff to focus on science and policy.¹⁸
Inversa CEO Aarav Chavda said the company is investing in technology including a predictive behavioral AI model to improve python capture by up to 50 times.¹⁹
They’ve already achieved their first AI-enabled aerial python detection.²⁰
Roger Young, FWC’s executive director, praised the partnership.
"The success we are achieving against invasive species wouldn’t be possible without the support of Governor DeSantis and the Legislature," Young said. "Thank you to the Inversa team for helping us combat this problem using emerging technological advancements."²¹
The bigger picture on Everglades restoration
DeSantis used the python announcement to highlight his broader environmental record.
Since 2019, his administration has delivered nearly $8 billion for Everglades restoration and water quality improvements — far exceeding initial commitments.²²
The administration completed the C-44 Reservoir/Stormwater Treatment Area and made the C-43 Caloosahatchee Reservoir operational, protecting estuaries from harmful discharges.²³
The massive Everglades Agricultural Area reservoir is now expected to be completed by 2029 — five years ahead of the original 2034 timeline.²⁴
Since 2019, the state has achieved cumulative nutrient removal totaling more than 1.8 million pounds of nitrogen and 770,000 pounds of phosphorus annually from South Florida waterways.²⁵
"We place an enormous amount on emphasis on Florida Everglades restoration — it’s the biggest environmental restoration project in the history of the country," DeSantis said.²⁶
Why this matters
DeSantis just proved something that drives the Left absolutely crazy: private enterprise can solve environmental problems better than government bureaucracy.
For decades, state and federal agencies threw money at the python problem. They hired contractors. They held publicity stunts disguised as "challenges."
They created programs with fancy acronyms. The pythons kept multiplying.
Then DeSantis brought in a company that actually had to turn a profit.
Suddenly the impossible became possible. Hunters got paid more.
The state’s administrative burden dropped 89 percent. Python removals tripled.
The environmental movement has spent decades insisting only government can protect nature. They’ve created massive bureaucracies and spent billions in taxpayer dollars.
Meanwhile, a small Miami startup with 10 employees and a network of local hunters is getting more done in three months than government programs achieved in years.
This is what happens when you align economic incentives with environmental goals.
Inversa doesn’t remove pythons because it’s the "right thing to do" — they do it because there’s a market for luxury python leather.
The hunters don’t work harder because bureaucrats told them to — they work harder because they’re getting paid 60 percent more.
The Left wants you to believe capitalism destroys the environment.
DeSantis just showed them capitalism can save it — if you’re smart enough to harness market forces instead of fighting them. Invasive species elimination becomes profitable.
Rural communities get jobs. Fashion brands get sustainable materials. Native wildlife gets a fighting chance.
That’s the kind of problem-solving you get when politicians actually understand how the real world works.
DeSantis isn’t just protecting the Everglades — he’s writing a playbook for how conservatives can own environmental issues by embracing innovation and private enterprise instead of big government mandates.
The pythons that have terrorized Florida’s ecosystem for 50 years just met their match.
And it wasn’t another government program — it was the free market.
¹ Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, "Burmese Python Invasion History," accessed October 22, 2025.
² U.S. Geological Survey, "Mammal Population Decline Study," 2012.
³ Michelle Vecerina, "DeSantis announces triple-digit increase in invasive python removals," South Florida Sun-Sentinel, October 21, 2025.
⁴ Newsweek, "Burmese Python Population Estimates," June 29, 2022.
⁵ NBC 6 South Florida, "Python Impact on Native Species," August 9, 2024.
⁶ South Florida Water Management District, "5,000 Pythons Removed Milestone," July 28, 2020.
⁷ INVERSA Press Release, "Featured in Vogue and WSJ," accessed October 22, 2025.
⁸ Business Observer, "Tampa startup turns invasive species into exotic leather," January 23, 2024.
⁹ FOX 35 Orlando, "Python No More: DeSantis talks funding for Everglades python removal," October 21, 2025.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Michelle Vecerina, "DeSantis announces triple-digit increase in invasive python removals," South Florida Sun-Sentinel, October 21, 2025.
¹² News4JAX, "DeSantis highlights success of program to remove invasive Burmese pythons," October 21, 2025.
¹³ Yahoo News, "Florida taps luxury leather company Inversa to help with removal of Burmese pythons," October 21, 2025.
¹⁴ Business Observer, "Tampa startup turns invasive species into exotic leather," January 23, 2024.
¹⁵ Sourcing Journal, "ESG Outlook: Inversa’s Aarav Chavda on Benefits of Leather From Invasive Species," July 26, 2024.
¹⁶ FOX 35 Orlando, "Python No More: DeSantis talks funding for Everglades python removal," October 21, 2025.
¹⁷ Yahoo News, "Florida taps luxury leather company Inversa to help with removal of Burmese pythons," October 21, 2025.
¹⁸ Michelle Vecerina, "DeSantis announces triple-digit increase in invasive python removals," South Florida Sun-Sentinel, October 21, 2025.
¹⁹ – ²⁵ Ibid.
²⁶ WQCS, "Governor DeSantis highlights python removal efforts and Everglades restoration in Stuart," October 21, 2025.
