Big Cypress National Preserve

The agency files it as “Big Cypress National Preserve; Off-Road Motor Vehicles”

33 days left

Anyone can write to the agency about this until December 1, and it has to answer. What you send before then joins the file a judge is allowed to look at later.

What to go and check

In Big Cypress, walk the soft mud and wet prairie edges where buggy trails already run. Photograph every animal track, scat, nest or bedding spot you find, close up with a boot or hand for scale, and keep the date on the file.

The decision

The National Park Service is proposing to update off-road vehicle (ORV) regulations at Big Cypress National Preserve by replacing an outdated map with one that reflects the preserve's current boundary, which expanded by roughly 147,000 acres in 1988. The practical effect is that ORV use would be permitted across a significantly larger area of the preserve, subject to the Superintendent's discretio

Read the whole thing, and write to the agency about it

How to record it so it counts

01Photograph any sign: tracks, scat, feathers, rubs, nests, dens, burrows, carcasses. Put something for scale beside it (a coin, a pole tip, your boot).
02Photograph the surroundings so the habitat shows.
03Note the time of day and the weather.
04Keep your distance from any animal. Never approach a nest or a den.
05Write down what you think it is and why. If you’re not sure, say so; a photo of unidentified sign is still sign.

What would count

Presence, not absence. Sign proves something is there; a quiet walk proves nothing.
Scale, time and habitat in the same set.

All of it, with the phone settings, in the field guide

Are you going?

Say yes or no. It tells the next person whether anyone has this ground covered, and it is the only way we know a request was answered rather than just read. You can change your mind any time, and nobody follows up.

Join, then say you’re going

Nobody has answered yet

Before you go

Public land only. Plenty of land inside a national forest or park boundary is privately owned, and that is not yours to walk on. A gate or a closure sign means stop. Check the rules for the specific place you are going, because they differ.
Don’t touch survey stakes, flagging, equipment or anything a crew left. Photograph it; leave it.
Don’t approach crews, contractors or agency staff about the project. Don’t interfere with any operation.
Wildlife at a distance. No drones in wilderness or anywhere they’re prohibited. Stay off closed roads and trails.
If you’re not sure, don’t. Weather, terrain, water, fire and people are your call, and yours alone.

More Than Just Parks doesn’t direct where you go or what you do. Terms.