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

    Big Cypress

    National Preserve Florida

  • ORV Related Closures

    Effective 12:01 a.m. Friday, March 23, 2012, Zone 4 airboat access within Big Cypress National Preserve will be closed due to low water conditions. Other areas of the Preserve will be closed to recreational ORV access from June 4 through August 2. More »

04/29/2011 Fire Up-date

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Date: April 29, 2011
Contact: Bob DeGross, 239-695-1107

As of this morning the active fire within Big Cypress National Preserve has burned approximately 5,000 acres in the central portion of the Preserve. Crews from the National Park Service and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service are actively creating fire lines to contain the lightning caused fire and to protect privately owned backcountry camps where necessary.

For safety reasons all primary and secondary trails in the vicinity of the fire are closed to the public. You can find a Google Earth file of the burned area here.

A Type 1 incident management team will begin the management of the fire beginning tomorrow. This team will have the authority to request additional resources to aid in fire suppression as the need arises.

For additional updates go 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.