bob_sobczak@nps.gov
Hydrologist, Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida

tony_pernas@nps.gov
Exotic Plant Management Specialist, Biological Resources Management Division


Back to Chapter 4: Resource Risks

River management and the Upper Colorado River Recovery Implementation Program
By John Wullschleger

Mysterious tadpole die-off in Whiskeytown
By Jennifer Gibson

Water quality–monitoring partnership on the Pedernales
By John Tiff and Brian Carey

Calling for stronger fossil resource protection: A report to Congress
By Julia Brunner and Lindsay McClelland

Change in status of lynx and black-tailed prairie dog

Virus responsible for amphibian deaths in parks

Exotic invertebrates spread

Award-Winner Profile - Maintenance Chief Merry Petrossian recognized with award

Ozone standards exceeded in parks

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In 2000, Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, took a big step toward managing off-road vehicles (ORVs) for the preservation of natural resources. During the year, the National Park Service published its new plan for the management of ORVs, coinciding with growing concerns about the suitability of ORVs throughout the national park system, including snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park, dune buggies in Mohave National Preserve, and most recently swamp buggies and airboats in Big Cypress.

The 729,000-acre (294,840-hectare) Big Cypress National Preserve comprises the eastern third of the Big Cypress Swamp in southern Florida. The preserve was established in 1974 to protect the upstream watershed that is vital to western Everglades National Park and to prevent development in the fragile Big Cypress Swamp. Use of ORVs in Big Cypress National Preserve predates its establishment; the enabling legislation permits the use of ORVs in the preserve.

The Big Cypress Swamp has historically been a remote environment without roads that loggers, hunters, and trappers have accessed via custom-built vehicles such as swamp buggies and airboats since the 1940s. Today recreationists, hunters, and backcountry camp owners use ORVs to traverse the mosaic of semiflooded sawgrass prairies, cypress forest, and pinelands.

Nearly three decades after the establishment of the preserve, the Florida Biodiversity Project, an environmental advocacy group, raised concerns about the management of ORVs in the preserve. In its subsequent review the National Park Service noted that ORVs were harming the environment. Aerial and ground-level photography highlighted soil disturbances, vegetation loss, and surface-water inundation and flow. Aerial photographs from 1940, 1953, 1973, and 1988 revealed that the total length of ORV trails had increased since establishment of the preserve. Trail accretion over time signifies that natural soil recovery is not keeping pace with the rate of impact. Hydrologic data indicated that the preserve was significantly wetter in the 1990s than during the 1970s and 1980s when hardened soil conditions prevailed. Soils that are subjected to inundation or prolonged presence of water near the surface are more prone to disturbance from vehicle overpass.

Technological developments since the inception of the preserve have raised new concerns about the ease of ORV access. Manufactured all-terrain vehicles now offer a low-maintenance, high-speed alternative to swamp buggies and airboats. More recently the proliferation of cell phones and global positioning systems has expanded the operators’ abilities to navigate through remote backcountry regions.

In response to the findings, Big Cypress National Preserve drafted a new Off-road Vehicle Management Plan and began its implementation in 2000. The plan is expected to meet the challenge of protecting the fragile natural resources of the preserve for public enjoyment while still providing access. Establishment of a designated trail system will end the era of unrestricted ORV access throughout the preserve. The plan also stipulates closures of heavily disturbed areas, the habitat of the Cape Sable seaside sparrow, and pristine areas. In addition it establishes a new three-pronged permit system requiring ORV operators to obtain a vehicle permit, an ORV operator’s permit, and a backcountry permit. Finally the plan calls for initiation of monitoring, research, and restoration of natural resources that are affected by ORVs.

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Last Updated: 06/17/2001
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