Stop NPS from opening Big Cypress expansion lands to off-road vehicles
Big Cypress National Preserve; Off-Road Motor Vehicles
National Park Service· Big Cypress National PreserveFederal Register 2026-20251 ↗
The groups on this fight
4 groups work Florida
By footprint, from the same match the STAND matchmaker runs; none is linked to this decision in our record yet. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- Everglades Foundation
Works Florida: the science and restoration muscle behind Everglades protection.
- Florida Trail Association
Works Florida: they work only in Florida.
- Friends of the Everglades
Works Florida: founded by Marjory Stoneman Douglas to defend the River of Grass.
- National Parks Conservation Association
Works Florida: sued Interior and won the 2024 ruling ordering the Park Service to implement Biscayne's long-promised marine reserve zone.
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
A map swap would open roughly 147,000 acres of Big Cypress to off-road vehicle use by default.
What’s at risk
Wetland habitat added to Big Cypress National Preserve in 1988 has never been formally opened to off-road vehicles. This rule would make that entire expansion area available to motorized use unless a superintendent separately acts to close it.
If this goes through
Once the new map takes effect, off-road vehicles would be permitted across the 147,000-acre addition unless the agency takes further action to close specific zones, shifting the burden from justifying access to justifying restriction.
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
3 holes in the agency’s own analysis
Make these points, in your own words
- I oppose this action as proposed, and I ask the agency to weigh the specific harms below.
- This rule expands off-road vehicle use into roughly 147,000 acres added to Big Cypress National Preserve in 1988, opening sensitive wetland habitat to motorized disturbance that was never formally assessed under this framework.
- The proposed rule leaves decisions about which areas to close entirely to the Superintendent's discretion, providing no guaranteed protections for ecologically sensitive zones within the expanded boundary.
- Big Cypress National Preserve is one of Florida's most ecologically sensitive wetland ecosystems, and allowing ORV access across a dramatically larger area risks habitat disturbance that a map update alone does not adequately address.
- Say something only you can say. The law requires the agency to consider and respond to substantive comments, and specifics are what make a comment substantive.
In the agency’s own words
The National Park Service proposes to amend special regulations for Big Cypress National Preserve that regulate the use of motorized vehicles off roads. The current regulations refer to a map that identifies areas within the National Preserve where motorized vehicles can be used unless closed by the Superintendent. This map is outdated and does not depict the current boundary of the National Preserve, which was expanded in 1988 by approximately 147,000 acres. This rule would replace references to the outdated map with references to a map showing the current boundary of the National Preserve, with the effect of ex…
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