Join Our Friends

The National Park Service and Big Cypress National Preserve work closely with a variety of organizations to accomplish our mission. Our friends include:

Non-Governmental and Not For Profit Organizations

 

The Florida National Parks Association is the official private, non-profit partner supporting educational, interpretive, and historical and scientific research responsibilities of Biscayne, Dry Tortugas, and Everglades National Parks and Big Cypress National Preserve.

 

South Florida Community Partners is a dynamic group of residents, entrepreneurs, students, professionals, activists and volunteers who join with the National Park Service staff to enhance cultural diversity in south Florida's national park sites by providing programs, resources and opportunities that are available to all.

 

The South Florida National Parks Trust was founded in 2002, to improve the quality of life in south Florida by supporting the National Park Service sites that define our landscape and enrich our culture.

 

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OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES

 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the premier government agency dedicated to the conservation, protection, and enhancement of fish, wildlife and plants, and their habitats.

Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge was established in June 1989, under the authority of the Endangered Species Act to protect the Florida panther and its habitat.

Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge is located in Collier County on the southwest coast of Florida. Established in 1996, this 35,000 acres refuge protects important mangrove habitats and a rich diversity of native wildlife, including several endangered species.

The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) assists in collecting valuable research data to help monitor the health of this special place. To learn more about this valuable partner click here.

 

NOAA protects, preserves, manages, restores and enhances the nation's coastal resources and ecosystems along 95,439 miles of United States shoreline.

Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Located at the northern end of the Ten Thousand Islands on the gulf coast of Florida, the Rookery Bay Reserve represents one of the few remaining undisturbed mangrove estuaries in North America.

 

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FLORIDA STATE PARKS

 

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park is a linear swamp forest, approximately twenty miles long by five miles wide and oriented from north to south. It has been sculpted by the movement of water for thousands of years and clean fresh water is the key to its existence.

Friends of Fakahatchee

Collier-Seminole State Park Experience the natural beauty and wildlife of the Everglades, as well as a forest of tropical trees at Collier-Seminole State Park. The 7,271-acre park lies partly within the great mangrove swamp of southern Florida, one of the largest mangrove swamps in the world.