• The Florida panther's watchful gaze- Courtesy- Ralph Arwood

    Big Cypress

    National Preserve Florida

There are park alerts in effect.
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  • Fire Activity

    Currently there is fire activity within the Preserve. More »

  • 2013 Zone 4 Closure

    Beginning at 12:01 am Monday, April 8, 2013, the Zone 4 airboat access within Big Cypress National Preserve will be closed due to low water conditions. More »

  • Interstate 75 Mile Marker 63 Closure

    Beginning summer of 2013 the rest area and backcountry access at mile marker 63 will be closed due to construction. More »

  • Campground Closures

    Beginning Monday, May 13 through Friday, August 16 camping will be available at the Midway Campground and the “loop” in the Bear Island Campground within Big Cypress National Preserve. All other established campgrounds will be closed. More »

Addition Lands General Management Plan

UPDATE- 11/24/2010
Big Cypress National Preserve Superintendent Pedro Ramos, announced the availability of the Final General Management Plan/Wilderness Study/Off-Road Vehicle Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (GMP/WS/ORV Plan/EIS) for the Addition.

Also available is a Biological Opinion prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under Section-7 of the Endangered Species Act for the preferred alternative described in the GMP/WS/ORV Plan/EIS.

BACKGROUND

The Big Cypress National Preserve was set aside in 1974, to ensure the preservation, conservation, and protection of the natural scenic, floral and faunal, and recreational values of the Big Cypress Watershed.

The importance of this watershed to Everglades National Park was a major consideration for its establishment. The name Big Cypress refers to the large size of this area. Vast expanses of cypress strands span this unique landscape. The Preserve is a mosaic of vegetation communities and provides habitat to a diversity of species, including 10 federally listed threatened and endangered species such as the Florida panther and the West Indian manatee.

In 1988, Big Cypress National Preserve was expanded by about 146,000 acres with the passage of the Big Cypress National Preserve Addition Act (Public Law (PL) 100-301). The Addition consists of about 128,000 acres northeast of the original preserve boundary and approximately 18,000 acres along the western boundary.

This effort is to develop a general management plan for the Addition. This plan will establish the broad management direction for the next 15-20 years for this new portion of the Preserve.

To learn more about the General Management Plan and related public involvement opportunities, please click here.

Did You Know?

Researchers gather data from a bear that was removed as a nuisance.

Please do not feed any of the wildlife within the preserve. A "fed bear is a dead bear." This bear was fed and eventually became a threat to visitor safety. Nuisance wildlife is sometimes removed, but typically does not survive.