VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

07/14/25 9:10:47pmLogin ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1[2]345 ]


[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 06/16/08 9:07:36am
Author: Casey
Subject: Your Help is Needed

All Florida Hunters are encourage to write their Congressional members on this matter and include these letters. If you live out of the State of FL this is your land, too. As federal land you have a right, no the obligation, to get the NPS manage this land as Congress intended. Congress did not want the land to become a Federal Wilderness Park, as Everglades National Park is, but wanted the public to use and enjoy the Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY) and the Big Cypress National Persevere Addition with reasonable regulations. Sadly since the very beginning the NPS has tried to manage the BICY as a park and not a preserve. This is why the Florida Congressional members added amending language to the original enabling act of the BICY to direct the NPS not to manage the area as a park and to work with the state of Florida.

While the current BICY leadership has been much better about properly implementing the amended enabling act they continue to work and act in a vacuum and as if they do not have to work with the Florida Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Commission (FWC) and only have to do what their park Wilderness supporters want them to do. For more than 20 years the BICY Addition lands, that were once hunting lands, have been closed to hunting and traditional uses. Traditional uses, according to the Congressional author of the Addition Act, Senator Lawton Chiles (FL) means those activities that were going on before the Addition Act passed Congress. This means the use of ORVs is required on the property. You cannot hunt if you do not have access. You cannot camp if you do have access. For those living in the western part of the USA removing the ORV, swamp buggy, airboat and ATC, is like removing horses from the mountains.

Please print these letters and send them to all you know, Congress, clubs etc.

Thanks

June 11, 2008


Letter #1:



Mr. Dirk A. Kempthorne
Secretary
United States Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240-0001

Dear Secretary Kempthorne:

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (Commission) adopted the enclosed resolution to document serious and longstanding concerns about the Big Cypress National Preserve (Preserve), the associated Addition lands, and the process for developing a general management plan for the Addition. The purpose of this letter and resolution is to make sure you are aware of the Commission’s concerns and respectfully request your assistance. Specifically, we ask that you intervene in the planning process prior to the selection of a preferred alternative. We do not want to delay this process; however, we seek to be included in the determination and the selection of the preferred alternative and the final record of decision as intended by Congress.

The Addition (enacted as the Big Cypress National Preserve Addition Act; Public Law 100-301) comprises 146,000 acres of property in southwest Florida acquired through a federal/state partnership. In January of 1988, the 100th United States Congress established this property as an addition to the Preserve by amending the original Big Cypress Preserve Act (the original preserve was enacted by Public Law 93-440). The amended Act specified that public recreational use and enjoyment should be a priority on the Addition, including traditional uses like hunting and fishing. The amended act in Section 10 also states:

The Secretary and other involved federal agencies shall cooperate with the State of Florida to establish recreational access points and roads, rest and recreation areas, wildlife protection, hunting, fishing, frogging, and other traditional recreational opportunities in conjunction with the creation of the Addition and in the construction of Interstate Highway 75. Three of such access points shall be located within the preserve (including the Addition).

Clearly, Congress intended that that the State of Florida should be fully engaged in management decisions. Now, more than 20 years following establishment and with little regard for Commission input, the vast majority of the Addition is inaccessible to the public except for walking access via the Florida Trail.

Over two decades, the Commission and a large segment of the public have expressed sincere disappointment and frustration with the delays and lack of progress toward broadening public access and use. The National Park Service has maintained that a general management plan, wilderness study, and off-road vehicle management plan must be completed and approved before public access can be fully implemented. The Commission has repeatedly offered to assist with these efforts. Unfortunately, the planning process has been delayed until recent years, and the Commission has not been included in the decision making process at the level intended by Congress.

Federal laws governing the Preserve and the Addition recognize that the State of Florida was a major partner in the acquisition of the Addition. These laws recognize that the State of Florida has authorities and expertise pertinent to management of the Preserve and Addition including state regulatory authority for fish and wildlife resources. Federal laws recognize the State of Florida has an understanding of and appreciation for the cultural values and traditional uses associated with these lands. For these reasons, federal law specifically require that all federal agencies must consult, coordinate and cooperate with the State of Florida and the Commission regarding various aspects of management and public use of the Preserve and the Addition. Moreover, these laws clearly establish that traditional public recreation will be maintained, and the property will be managed as a “National Preserve” rather than a typical “National Park.”

The Commission has always viewed the body of federal law establishing the Preserve and Addition as unambiguous and clear regarding the relationship between the National Park Service and the State of Florida. The National Park Service however has viewed these Congressional acts and federal laws through the lens of their organizational rules, processes, and policies, which unfortunately has created fundamental problems. The current Preserve superintendent, Karen Gustin, has done an outstanding job and provided some respite from this situation by involving the State of Florida and the Commission. However, until the fundamental problem regarding the National Park Service’s interpretation of the intent of the Congressional Acts and federal law is resolved, a true partnership will not be realized.

The National Park Service has published preliminary alternatives for management and public access in the context of a draft general management plan. The Commission submitted written comments and recommendations in a letter dated June 15, 2007. In the months since this letter was submitted, Commission members and staff have discussed these recommendations with National Park Service staff in good faith, but we have received no tangible assurance that our input will be reflected in the selection of a preferred alternative. Moreover, we are concerned that the State of Florida will continue to be held at arm’s length during the final process for selecting a preferred alternative, and the level of public access and use clearly intended by Congress and the State of Florida when the Addition was established 20 years ago will never be fully realized.

With this letter and resolution, we are respectfully requesting your intervention and assistance. We request that the Commission’s recommendations regarding the published preliminary alternatives as specified in our June 15, 2007, letter and the enclosed resolution be incorporated into the preferred alternative and the final record of decision. We are prepared to engage immediately in further discussions with Department of Interior and National Park Service leadership through appropriate forums as necessary to achieve an acceptable outcome. We look forward to your favorable response to this request.

Please contact Kenneth Haddad, Executive Director of the Commission at (850) 487-3796 if you have questions or comments.

Sincerely,



Rodney A. Barreto
Chairman

Enclosures

cc: President George Bush
U.S. Senator Mel Martinez
U.S. Senator Bill Nelson
Congressman Gus Bilirakis
Congressman Allen Boyd
Congresswoman Corrine Brown
Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite
Congressman Vern Buchanan
Congresswoman Katherine Castor
Congressman Ander Crenshaw
Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart
Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart
Congressman Tom Feeney
Congressman Alcee Hastings
Congressman Ric Keller
Congressman Ron Klein
Congressman Connie Mack
Congressman Tim Mahoney
Congressman Kendrick Meek
Congressman John Mica
Congressman Jeff Miller
Congressman Adam Putnam
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Congressman Cliff Stearns
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Congressman David Weldon
Congressman Robert Wexler
Congressman C.W. Bill Young
Mary A. Bomar, Director, National Park Service
David Vela, Director, National Park Service Southeast
Karen Gustin, Superintendent, Big Cypress National Park
Governor Charlie Crist
State Senator JD Alexander
State Senator Burt Saunders
State Representative Will S. Kendrick
State Representative Stan Mayfield
Michael W. Sole, Secretary, Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioners



Letter #2

Florida Legislators’ Sportsmen’s Caucus

June 9, 2008

The Honorable Rodney Barreto, Chairman
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Re: Big Cypress Addition Lands

Dear Chairman Barreto:

On behalf of the over 50 members of the Florida Legislature who are members of the Florida Legislators’ Sportsmen’s Caucus, we applaud the efforts of the FWCC to open up the Addition Lands to sportsmen in Florida. And, just as importantly, we want to thank all of the hard working men and women of the many sportsmen’s stakeholder groups for their persistence in pushing to open these valuable lands.

For over 20 years, Florida’s residents have been shut out of lands that were traditionally hunted and enjoyed by outdoor enthusiasts. When Congress added these 146,000 acres to the Big Cypress Preserve, it appears that it was clearly their intent that these lands continue to be enjoyed by our residents who had hunted on these lands for many, many decades. The actions of the National Park Service clearly fly in the face of Congressional direction and this is just one more example of why Floridians feel like they are being shut out of public lands for hunting opportunities. We say “shame on the National Park Service” for treating our residents, and our land, this way. Perhaps we should just think about buying it back if they don’t change their tune!!

You have our full support in this effort and we will be pleased to contact members of the Florida Congressional Delegation who are members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, if you believe that will be helpful.

And to the men and women from around Florida who will be attending and speaking at the June 11 Commission meeting, we again offer our thanks and support of your efforts. Keep up the good fight.

Sincerely,


Representative Baxter Troutman Senator Carey Baker
Co-Chair Co-Chair

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Post a message:
This forum requires an account to post.
[ Create Account ]
[ Login ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]


Forum timezone: GMT-5
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.