National Parks Conservation Association Lauds New Restrictions to Protect Big Cypress National Preserve from Off-road Vehicles
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PRESS RELEASE
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | |
| Date: | October 3, 2000 |
| Contact: | Mary Munson, NPCA South Florida Regional Director, 954-926-6327 |
National Parks Conservation Association Lauds New Restrictions to Protect Big Cypress National Preserve from Off-road Vehicles
"Conservationists welcome the plan with open arms in part because it offers protection for the habitat of endangered species such as the Florida panther and Cape Sable seaside sparrow," Munson says. "The effects of off-road vehicles on wildlife will be monitored. If the vehicles jeopardize wildlife, the plan can be refined. We strongly support this flexible and environmentally sensible approach."
The plan, signed last week by National Park Service Director Robert Stanton, Regional Director Jerry Belsun, and Superintendent John Donahue, limits the number of off-road-vehicle (ORV) users and exerts a system-wide set of controls on ORV access. Hunting is allowed in Big Cypress, where too many hunters use heavy swamp buggies that tear up fragile soils and vegetation. The plan will limit these heavy vehicles to less than 400 miles of maintained trails, prohibit their use in thousands of acres of fragile prairies, and institute an ambitious permitting and operator-education program. The plan will also restrict airboats in areas inhabited by the endangered Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow.
