Big Cypress National Preserve was the first National Preserve in the United States' National Park System. It is located in southern Florida, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of Miami, Florida.
Ecologically, the swampy preserve serves the same purpose as the Everglades, and also provides fresh water to Ten Thousand Islands. Big Cypress differs from Everglades National Park in that Off-Road Vehicles, hunting, and resource extraction are allowed within the national preserve but are prohibited according to national park regulations.
The preserve is also home to nine federally-listed endangered species including the West Indian manatee, the eastern indigo snake, and the Florida sandhill crane.
A number of campgrounds in Big Cypress are tailored to motor vehicles, where tourists planning overnight stays- but not the laborsome backcountry experience- can park their vehicles and ORVs in designated areas like Burns Lake. The southern terminus of the Florida National Scenic Trail is located in Big Cypress providing for hiking opportunities during the dry months of January to April.
Controversy Over Off-Road Vehicles
Touted as a "recreational paradise" by the Department of the Interior, Big Cypress was created in part to accommodate Floridians' rampant use (and misuse) of off-road vehicles (ORVs). A ruling in 2001 restricted ORVs to 400 miles of trails within the park, but sportsmen- sharply divided from conservationists- have consistently demanded more.
A [report] by the United States Geological Survey, a government organization, states that "ORV use in Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY) has impacted wildlife populations and habitats through modifications to water flow patterns (direction and velocity) and water quality, soil displacement and compaction, direct vegetation damage, disturbance to foraging individuals, and, ultimately, overall suitability of habitats for wildlife."
More pointedly, the [National Parks Conservation Association] has called Big Cypress "the blighted poster child of what can go wrong when ORVs rather than park managers take the driver's seat."
Despite this, park officials in 2006 began [new studies] to consider expansion of the existing 23,000+ miles of legal and illegal ORV trails. The study will determine whether the recreational benefit of more trails is worth condoning more degradation.
The nonprofit group Wildlife Advocacy has noted that the existing trails in Big Cypress are "enough to encircle the planet, and 20 times more than the Park Service’s own [one time] estimate of 1,240 miles[link]."
