Defenders of Wildlife Blog

From Bill Eubanks and Defenders’ Board Member Eric Glitzenstein

An egret stalks through a cypress swamp (Credit: Farrell Grehan, National Geographic Stock)

Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve encompasses one of the nation’s most unique ecosystems, containing majestic strands of cypress domes, dozens of federally protected species, including the highly endangered Florida panther, and a critical hydrological pattern that serves as a filter for water that ends up in the Everglades and as the drinking water for South Florida’s residents. Due to climate change and rapid commercial and residential development in South Florida, the Preserve and its vulnerable resources are subject to increasing pressures, and it is critical that we create safeguards to protect these resources.

The most avoidable threat to panthers, vegetation and hydrology in the Preserve are the adverse impacts of off-road vehicles (ORVs). Prior to 1995, the National Park Service (NPS) did not regulate ORV use in the Preserve, which led to the creation of approximately 23,000 miles of ORV trail where use of these vehicles routinely disturbed soil and plants, flushed panthers and other wildlife from the Preserve, and disrupted water flows that are essential to maintaining an ecological balance in the Preserve and the Everglades.

In 1995, several conservation groups brought a lawsuit challenging that NPS’s failure to regulate ORV use in the Preserve resulted in numerous violations of federal environmental laws. NPS agreed to settle that case and to create an ORV management plan to significantly reduce the extent of ORV use in the Preserve to sustainable levels. In 2000, NPS issued its final ORV plan, which reduced the mileage of ORV trails in the Preserve from 23,000 to only 400 miles. When ORV users sued, claiming it was unlawful to curtail some ORV use, Defenders and other conservation organizations argued that the plan actually helped NPS better comply with federal laws. The court ruled in our favor and upheld the new plan with no more than 400 miles of ORV trails throughtout the Preserve — a sign that the Preserve’s resources could finally return to a more natural state.

In 2007, however, NPS reopened approximately 23 miles of trails in the Bear Island Unit — the most sensitive ecological area in the Preserve, and the area where panthers are most likely to be found. Those trails had been expressly closed by the 2000 ORV management plan, but NPS reopened them in 2007 with no explanation as to why the agency was reversing course. Defenders and other conservation groups brought a new lawsuit challenging the reopening of the trails. During the course of the lawsuit, it became clear that NPS reopened those trails simply because ORV users were urging that they be opened, and regardless of the on-the-ground environmental impacts of that decision.

Off-road vehicle (Credit: Ben Hallert)

Earlier this year, a federal court once again ruled in  Defenders’ favor. It determined that NPS’s trail reopening violated several environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. In particular, the court found that NPS is bound by its ORV management plan, and it cannot change its management direction mid-stream without going through all the necessary environmental reviews to make sure the new course of action will not damage the Preserve’s natural resources.

This outcome is a huge victory for the Preserve and its wildlife because it means that NPS cannot abandon the resource-protective 2000 ORV management plan that Defenders fought for and won in an earlier lawsuit. The 23 miles of illegally-opened ORV trails in a critical area have now been indefinitely closed to ORV use, and the agency will finally have  to grapple with some related questions about how it manages ORV use in ecologically sensitive areas.

As the Big Cypress National Preserve Off-Road Vehicle Advisory Committee (of which  Laurie MacDonald, Director of Florida Programs, is a committee member) continues to meet to make trail recommendations to NPS, these issues are sure to be front and center. In any event, while this case brings another chapter in the Big Cypress saga to a close by granting the Preserve’s resources much-needed protection, there is still much work to do in South Florida as climate change, development and motorized recreation continue to strain the unique resources of this diverse ecosystem.

Bill Eubanks and Eric Glitzenstein are attorneys with Meyer, Glitzenstein & Crystal, a public interest law firm in Washington, DC that has represented Defenders of Wildlife and other environmental groups in litigation over ORV use in the Big Cypress National Preserve for nearly 20 years.

At 1.5-year-old, you can still see the spots on FP194. Photo credit Karen Meeks.

This week saw the happy return of an orphaned Florida panther kitten to the wild. The release of the 1.5-year-old cat took place on Tuesday evening in Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve, near the area he’d been discovered last year.

Watch the video footage of the kitten as he takes off into the Big Cypress National Preserve (footage provided by Ralph Arwood).

Background:

On October 25, 2010, through on-going tracking activity within the preserve, the radio-collar of female panther FP102 began emitting a mortality signal. Upon reaching the site of the signal, National Park Service biologists found the remains of the cat. A subsequent necropsy confirmed that she had died from wounds received during a fight. Five months earlier the cat had given birth to two male kittens. After the death of FP102, one of the offspring, was discovered. His sibling was never found.

Rescue efforts:

The National Park Service, working closely with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, transported the kitten, now called FP194, to the White Oak Conservation Center, a wildlife facility in northeastern Florida. At the facility, the cat was cared for and housed in appropriate facilities with minimal human contact.

Vet Natalie Hall from White Oak Conservation Center examines FP194. Photo credit Ralph Arwood.

At 86 pounds and in good condition, the National Park Service has high hopes for the cat. Fitted with a new tracking color, the agency will be able to monitor the movements of the cat as he adjusts back to life in the wild.

Learn more:

Only 100-160 Florida panthers remain in the wild. See how Defenders is working to protect them and the places they call home.

See how a proposal to create a new national wildlife refuge north of Lake Okeechobee could give a big boost to efforts to save the Florida panther. 

Want to hear more about the wild cats of North America? Join Defenders and wildlife tracking expert Sue Morse for a special presentation this Thursday, Dec. 8, in Estero, Florida. For more details, call Defenders at (727) 823-3888.

Although deer continue to be the number one victim of wildlife-vehicle collisions, accidents on the road impact a wide range of animals. In a 2007 study on wildlife-vehicle collisions, the Western Transportation Institute compiled a list of 21 federally listed threatened and endangered species in the United States for which direct road mortality is among the major threats to the survival. That list not only included mammals like the San Joaquin kit fox, Canada lynx and Florida panther, but even reptiles like the American crocodile and birds like the Florida scrub jay. Watch our video to see the full range of listed species.

Sadly, those are only the animals that are affected by direct collisions with vehicles. If the study had included other impacts of roads and associated development, such as habitat loss and fragmentation, that list would have been much, much longer.

Florida panther: Poster child for the road to extinction?

Extensive development has left Florida panthers with little room to roam and dangerous highways to cross in their wide-ranging quests for food and mates. Photo © Robert Repenning

With only an estimated 100 to 160 remaining in the wild, Florida panthers are one of the most endangered mammals in the world. Meant to range over large areas in search of food and mates, these cats are forced to crisscross the Sunshine State’s dangerous highways all too often. As a result, collisions with vehicles take a terrible toll on panthers—16 were killed on Florida roads in 2010, and a record-breaking 17 in 2009.

Fortunately, progress is being made to protect these big cats. Next week, builders will break ground on a Remote Animal Detection System (RADS) in Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve. The preserve is a stronghold for the Florida panther, with the Turner River area specifically providing prime panther habitat. But the roads that cross the preserve also make it a very dangerous place for the endangered cats, especially breeding females and their kittens. By detecting large animals like panthers on the Turner River area of US 41 and alerting drivers of their presence, the system is intended to cut down on the amount of cats killed on the road.

Defenders is hopeful that the RADS project will raise awareness about the need to drive carefully and watch out for wildlife in Big Cypress National Preserve. We will continue to work for long-term solutions to make this deadly stretch of road safer for wildlife and people, from increased awareness and law enforcement in the panther zone to exploring the possibility of safe passage under and over busy roads.