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.

Responsible beach management will allow imperiled wildlife like the piping plover to continue down the path to recovery.

BREAKING: The National Park Service (NPS) today announced new rules to manage off-road vehicle traffic on beaches so nesting and baby sea turtles and birds as well as pedestrians are protected in Cape Hatteras National Seashore, according to conservation groups.

In 2007, the groups—Audubon North Carolina, Defenders of Wildlife and Southern Environmental Law Center— turned to the courts for help in getting the NPS to  implement long overdue safeguards for pedestrians and beach-nesting wildlife on park beaches overrun by off-road vehicles.

“The park service’s rules are a compromise that provides protections for both pedestrians and wildlife while still allowing responsible beach driving,” said Julie Youngman, senior attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center.

The long-awaited rules are the final step in a process agreed to by all parties concerned about beach driving in the national seashore. During an interim management period prior to today’s rulemaking, rare bird and sea turtle populations showed signs of recovery, park visitation held steady or increased annually, and tourism remained strong in Dare County, NC, where much of the seashore is located, despite a recession.

“With both the number of hatchlings and visitors to the beach climbing, the success of responsible beach management is clear,” said Jason Rylander, senior attorney for Defenders of Wildlife. “The new rules will ensure that Cape Hatteras continues to provide enjoyment to beach users while protecting the unique wildlife that call the seashore home.”

Tourism flourished in Dare County during the period when interim protections were in place.  Rental occupancy receipts in Dare County increased by millions over the previous decade as recorded by the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau. Park visitation and gross occupancy inDareCountyduring peak breeding and nesting season under interim management held steady or increased compared to the three preceding years. According to a state report on tourism for 2009-2010, Dare County experienced an 8.8 percent growth in tourism—making it among the top growth counties in the state during a recession.  The county’s strong tourism industry employed 11,260 people with $172 million in payroll and generated $44.55 million in tax receipts for the state and $39.78 million in local tax receipts.

After three years of temporary protections, a record-breaking 153 sea turtle nests were recorded at Cape Hatteras.

As a unit of the National Park System, Cape Hatteras National Seashore has been required under federal law since 1972 to establish guidelines that minimize harm from the use of off-road vehicles to the natural resources of the seashore in accordance with the best available science for present and future generations. The new rules bring the NPS into compliance with that requirement.

The park service’s rules allow ORV use on the majority of the seashore. Twenty-eight of the seashore’s 67 miles are set aside as year-round ORV routes, with only 26 miles designated as year-round vehicle-free areas for pedestrians, families, and wildlife. The remaining 13 miles of seashore are seasonally open to ORVs.  The plan also proposes new parking facilities, ORV ramps, and water shuttles to increase visitor access to beaches.

“Under the reasonable, science-based management of the past few years, beach-nesting birds and sea turtles are rebounding at Cape Hatteras National Seashore and visitors continue to flock to this national treasure,” said Heather Starck, executive director of Audubon North Carolina. “The new rules appear to give the National Park Service the guidance to protect and manage the natural resources while allowing for responsible ORV use.”

With temporary beach driving rules implemented in April 2008, beach-nesting birds and sea turtles within the national seashore showed signs of recovery after reaching alarming lows under unmanaged beach driving. Only 44 sea turtle nests were recorded in 2004, but a record-breaking 153 sea turtle nests were recorded in 2010 and 147 sea turtle nests were recorded in 2011. No piping plover chicks survived to fledge (learn to fly) in 2002 and 2004, but 15 chicks fledged in 2010 and ten fledged in 2011.