August 8, 2003 (Washington, DC) - In a Report and Recommendation issued by the court on August 1, 2003, Magistrate Judge Douglas N. Frazier, sitting in the Ft. Myers Division of the United States District Court in the Middle District of Florida, upheld restrictions in a National Park Service management plan for the use of off-road vehicles (ORVs) in Big Cypress National Preserve.

"This report represents a huge victory for the Preserve," said Brian Scherf of the Florida Biodiversity Project, a group that is part of a coalition of environmental and animal welfare organizations that intervened in the lawsuit to help the federal government defend the management plan against an attack from off-road vehicle users and organizations. Scherf added that "the court recognized that the off-road vehicle management plan will better protect critically imperiled species and natural resources in Big Cypress from the rampant, uncontrolled off-road vehicle use that has been the status quo for decades."

Big Cypress's off-road vehicle management plan "implements the management philosophy for ORVs that was identified by Congress when it created the Big Cypress NP," wrote Judge Frazier in the 27-page Report and Recommendation. "This Plan reasonably balances [the Park Service's] desire to permit ORV users access to most of the Big Cypress NP while minimizing the impacts of ORVs on natural resources, including several threatened or endangered species," Frazier stated. Big Cypress is home to the Florida panther and Cape Sable Seaside sparrow, two critically endangered species.

"The Magistrate's report is a clear signal that the days of swamp buggy abuse at Big Cypress are over," said Don Barry, executive vice president at The Wilderness Society and a former assistant secretary at the Interior Department. "The damage at Big Cypress is the worst that I have seen in the entire Park System. The real tragedy is that the National Park Service let this happen at all."

While the intervenors are extremely pleased with the report, the Park Service must still assure that the management plan is fully implemented. This will require the Park Service to request adequate funding from the Department of Interior and Congress to insure that the plan's trail system and protections are implemented, necessary research projects are carried out, impacts are monitored, the public is educated, and the Park Service is able to enforce the terms of the plan vigorously.

"Without adequate funding from Congress to implement the Plan, this Court victory could be meaningless," said Scherf.

Judge Frazier's Report and Recommendation must still be approved by Justice John Steele, Chief Judge of the Ft. Myers Division. The parties have until August 13, 2003 to file any written objections.

"We are delighted by the ruling," said Mary Munson, regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association. "The plan is a reasonable balance between environmental protection and swamp buggy use. We owe a great debt of gratitude to former Superintendent John Donahue who truly did the heavy lifting in his short tenure at Big Cypress. As this recommendation reinforces, Mr. Donahue did the right thing and the ORV plan is legal. The Preserve now has time to heal."

Big Cypress's management plan will implement a 400-mile designated trail system for off-road vehicles, designated access points, and nighttime and seasonal closures. Previously, off-road vehicles were allowed to enter and travel much of the preserve, which has resulted in extreme damage to the preserve's fragile biodiversity and wetlands ecosystem.

"With this ruling, the court is upholding the Park Service's work to create a balanced solution to the problems in Big Cypress by limiting off-road vehicles to those routes that have been specifically designated for their use," said Bethanie Walder, executive director of Wildlands CPR. "These common-sense limits will enable the Park Service to minimize conflicts, protect the safety of others, and prevent damage to our land, air, water, and wildlife."

"This decision will go a long way toward stopping the destruction that hunters and their ORVs inflict upon animals and the environment," said Michael Markarian, President of The Fund for Animals.

"You can look at the ruts or you can read our report, it all shows a situation that was out of control as far as protection of our natural ecosystems," stated Laurie Macdonald, Florida Director for Defenders of Wildlife

The intervenors were represented by Amy Atwood and Eric Glitzenstein of the Washington, D.C. public interest law firm of Meyer & Glitzenststein.