ABSTRACT
Thejetportcontroversyhadshowndramaticallythatprotectionfor themosaicofwetlandsandwatershedsinsouthFloridawasincomplete andthatthelargestunprotectedpiecewastheBigCypress.Establishment oftheCentralandSouthernFloridaFloodControlDistrictandtheEvergladesNationalParkhadbroughtmostoftheEvergladesunderpublic controlandbetter(ifnotalwaysenlightened)management,butthecontrollinginterestsinCollierandMonroecountieshadhadnearlyallofthe BigCypressexcludedfromboththeparkandtheFCDsystemofconservationareas.Now,evenwiththejetportprojectforestalled,othernewthreats tothisuniquewildernesswatershedandecosystemwereplainlyvisible. Forinstance,inMayof1971theFloridaCabinethadfounditnecessary toauthorizetheattorneygeneraltoseektoenjoinaprivatedrainage projectthatthreatenedtodisruptthediffuseflowofsurfacewatertostate landsbelowGumSloughinthesoutheasternBigCypress.(Inthisunprecedentedsuit,whichisstillundecidedatthiswritinginthespringof 1974,itisassertedthata"downstream"landownerhasriparianrights eventosuchill-definedsheetflow.)Also,landownerswerebuildingnew privateroadsandairstripsintheBigCypress,andtheoncesomnolent hamletofOchopeeontheTamiamiTrailwascomingalive,withmotels
Under the Jetport Pact, the federal government was committed to undertake environmental studies and to recommend land uses consistent with preserving the Everglades National Park, all estuarine resources related to the Big Cypress, and the shallow aquifer of southwest Florida. What clearly was needed was a comprehensive policy and plan for the Big Cypress and for the overall mosaic of major south Florida wetlands. As matters developed between early 1970 and the spring of 1974 substantial progress was made in protecting the Big Cypress. Nevertheless, no coherent plan had yet emerged, and the measures that were taken would not protect all of the important resources still in jeopardy. Briefly, these were the major developments: • Congress was moving to establish a 570,000-acre Big Cypress National Preserve that would include most of the watershed's eastern half and nearly all of that part of the Big Cypress tributary to the Everglades National Park (see figure 8-1). With the cost of the land acquisition estimated at $156 million in federal and state funds, the Big Cypress preserve would require a cash outlay larger than any ever previously approved for the purchase of a single federal park or recreation area.1 • The Florida Legislature, at Governor Askew's request, passed the Big Cypress Conservation Act of 1973 to have part of the Big Cypress designated as an "area of critical ~tate concern" as well as to authorize a $40 million state contribution to the establishment of the national preserve. The Big Cypress thus became an important testing ground, for this represented the first application of the concept of establishing special protective regimes for "critical areas"-a concept central to the Florida Environmental Land and Water Management Act of 1972. • Several other actions taken by the governor, the legislature, or the cabinet could have a major bearing on the protection of the Big Cypress. First, under the Water Resources Act of 1972, the Big Cypress was finally to be brought within the jurisdiction of the Flood Control District. Ultimately, any new drainage project in the Big Cypress would be subject to review by the FCD. Second, greatly increased interest in oil exploration in the Big Cypress had led the cabinet to require that all applications to drill in this watershed be reviewed by an advisory committee on which independent environmental interests would be represented.2 Road building and
other activities involved in the exploration for and recovery of oil would be subject to special conditions and restrictions. Finally, Governor Askew decided to have the south Florida segment of Interstate Highway 75 replace the existing Everglades Parkway or "Alligator Alley" across the Big Cypress and the Everglades. Fearing that such a routing would mean further loss of wetlands and more development in the Big Cypress, some environmentalists had urged the governor to choose a route farther north, outside the Big Cypress watershed. But Askew felt, with reason, that the Alligator Alley routing offered some major environmental advantages.
