What will 'wilderness' designation mean for the Big Cypress, swamp buggy riders?

Hunters, swamp buggy enthusiasts, politicians, Gladesmen and others are fighting to keep the federal government from giving a wilderness designation to the Big Cypress National Preserve outside of Naples.

A few environmental groups support the move, which would likely prohibit swamp buggy and airboat usage in much of the preserve.

They're battling over a wilderness designation that was triggered by an ecological review of the Big Cypress. Designating an area as official "wilderness" is the highest level of protection that can be afforded to lands in the United States.

"Motorized would be off-limits, like the sawgrass in Everglades National Park," said Matthew Schwartz, with the South Florida Wild Lands Association, who supports the designation. "They're not taking out the off-road designated trails out. It's just putting a higher level of protection over the preserve for the ecosystem, wildlife and quiet recreation."

One of the most biodiverse ecosystems in North America, the Big Cypress consists of 720,000 acres and is tied to Everglades National Park and the historic Everglades system. Together, they form the most remote lands east of the Mississippi River.

Everglades National Park was set aside in 1947, and activities like hunting and recreational vehicle use were banned inside park boundaries.

Big Cypress National Preserve came along in 1974, and people like retired fishing guide and Gladesmen Franklin Adams found that uses for the preserve to be different than what's allowed in Everglades National Park.

Swamp buggy users fear access to the Big Cypress will be lost

It was set aside as a preserve to allow for things like swamp buggies, airboats, hunting and fishing, Adams said.

"We all love the parks but they're not perfect in their management," Adams said. "If they had their way it would be an extension of Everglades National Park, so I'm totally opposed to a wilderness designation. It would be a feel-good thing and only 1% or so of the preserve is accessed by swamp buggies. But there won't be swamp buggies with this designation."

Adams said the designation may cause management issues with prescribed burns and exotic vegetation removal. Plus, he said, there are already areas in the Big Cypress that are off limits to motors.

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"In other areas where wilderness has been designated it has compromised land management practices from burns to exotic vegetation removal," Adams said. "And there's undesignated wilderness in Big Cypress. There's Deep Lake, the hole Inside Loop Road, and certain areas of the Stair steps have that been closed, and they're DeFacto wilderness but they're not declared and that's a good thing in my opinion."

Schwartz said having true wilderness in south Florida is rare as much of the Eastern United States is too developed to qualify for the designation.

"You don't have gas stations or roads and all the normal things and the Big Cypress has that quality," he said.

More than a dozen Florida politicians have voiced their concerns about the designation.

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U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Naples) is among a host of politicians who are actively fighting the designation, saying it will be a disaster for the preserve and its users.

"Big Cypress National Preserve is an iconic fixture of our Southwest Florida community that must be protected from debilitating federal overreach," Donalds said in a press release. "I proudly stand with my constituents, local stakeholders, and environmental officials from across the Sunshine State in demanding that the Biden administration does not proceed with any wilderness designation of the preserve. It is imperative that we block this disastrous and completely unnecessary potential action by out-of-touch bureaucrats in Washington."

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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Gladesmen, others battle federal government over access to Big Cypress