ENP GMP update

[Ted]

Below is a link to updated information concerning the Everglades National Park's General Management Plan.

http://www.nps.gov/ever/parkmgmt/upload/EVER%20GMP%20newsletter5%20...

The National Park Service has had a history of siding with the major user groups (in our case the power boaters) concerning management planning and I have a feeling it will be no different for the ENP.

[Terry]

There's a big difference between airboats, motorboats, anything mechanical and hand-propelled craft:

mechanical devices are illegal, hand-propelled craft are not.   Remember, almost all of ENP is a

Wilderness Area as defined by the Wilderness Act.  Every decision has to comply with

Wilderness Act rules and canoeing was specifically included in the 1920's rules has an encouraged method

of finding solitude and remoteness.   Motorboats in Florida Bay and and on the WW currently comply

by the fact that they are on the water above the ground and therefore are permitted, same as the air space

above a Wilderness Area.   Even bicycles are mechanical and have to be considered under Wilderness Act

rules.  The Wilderness Act rules are so strict that wheelchairs were originally illegal and federal amendments

had to be passed to allow disabled access.

But here's one that hasn't been discussed at any of these meetings:  A license to go canoeing.  It's in the

current GMP.   The whole license idea was created by agreement that education would lessen the prop scars

and groundings in Florida Bay, a major issue in the GMP.   As mentioned throughout this GMP thread, the lack

of paddlers at the previous GMP meetings allowed canoeing to be shouted into this licensing plan.

Think about this.

My wife can't go canoeing with me because she doesn't have a paddling license?!   I can no longer take

groups of students from the university for a Saturday paddle because they don't have a license?!  A family

from Ohio can't paddle around in circles in Nine Mile Pond because they don't have a license?!

Who's the operator in a canoe?  Do we want law enforcement resources to be used staking out

Hells Bay Landing for lawless canoe operators?!   Does licensing paddlecraft have any remote connection

to prop scars in Florida Bay?!   Just how much damage has been caused by paddlecraft in the bay?

Wouldn't the park lands benefit by encouraging the paddling experience?

License the craft that doesn't pollute, doesn't damage the resource and does minimum sound-scape damage?

Since canoeing is not only allowed in a Wilderness Area but encouraged, is discouraging paddling even

legal in a Wilderness Area?

Think about this and voice your thoughts at a GMP meeting.

Amazon Bill said:

I talked to Fred Hurling Park Planner during the open house part. He remembered the comments from the Homestead meeting and the EEN group wanting better slough access and campsites. He said it was being considered.

My take is the park needs some things that show they listened and adapted their plan. Flats fishermen are not happy, but our requests are low cost and consistent with conservation. I think we may have a shot at getting more into the plan if we can be specific.

One new concern I have is if they take private airboat access away in the distant future, what would stop them from making us rent canoes and kayaks from the airboat vendors and using airport vendor access points being proposed. That is why I made the comment about needing a NEPA EIS Revaluation in the future when private airboat access is taken permanently.  I was speaker 10. I reiterated what I posted on page 2 on EEN site.  One other speaker was their supporting canoeing.  Speak up, they are listening.

[Connie Mier]

Absolutely agree with this!

vivian said:

Thank you for speaking up at the meeting, I could not attend. I will however send written comments.

Agree with all, LEAVE permit system alone!

[Flex Kayakfari.com]

I'll second all of that .. thanks to Jay for speaking & no licensing for non-motorized access!

Sounds to me that the main gist for the Park is to work out a compromise for the interests of the airboaters/tourist concessions in the additions lands and powerboaters usage patterns in Florida Bay. I have to say though that for paddlers, there isn't a whole lot of difference between the proposed alternative choices as given .. they are more or less the same!

The licensing and "education" for canoeists and kayakers however could set a dangerous precedent.The power boater's lobby has repeatedly pushed for state-wide non-motorized vessel registration  - which of course does absolutely nothing for paddlers! This is something we should all actively oppose!!

[Swamp Hunter]

My friend Dave Balman went to Washington, D.C. on several occasions to try and save our traditional activities in the East Everglades but he couldnt raise enough money so all was lost. I am considering writing a book about his experiences and efforts trying to save the swamp and our traditional recreational activities. After a hard fight, the airboat club was allowed to keep its small parcel of land and the concessions remain but the way I look at it, when the East Everglades was annexed by the NPS, we lost everything as far as traditional activities are concerned. .I can forsee a day in the future when an 8 foot fence will be erected surrounding Chekika Island.

 I support whatever little recreational activities you can get back Jay and everyone else working on this. 

[yakmaster]

I was surprised with the existing airboaters only rule. That means that the oldtimers are grandfathered, but as they die off, so will non-commercial airboats.

 

But apparently that was an act of congress, so unless they get it changed in Washington, there will be no long term private boaters, no matter what goes on in the GMP.

Dale said:

My friend Dave Balman went to Washington, D.C. on several occasions to try and save our traditional activities in the East Everglades but he couldnt raise enough money so all was lost. I am considering writing a book about his experiences and efforts trying to save the swamp and our traditional recreational activities. After a hard fight, the airboat club was allowed to keep its small parcel of land and the concessions remain but the way I look at it, when the East Everglades was annexed by the NPS, we lost everything as far as traditional activities are concerned. .I can forsee a day in the future when an 8 foot fence will be erected surrounding Chekika Island.

 I support whatever little recreational activities you can get back Jay and everyone else working on this. 

[yakmaster]

BTW for those on these pages that think that no airboats is a purely good thing. Remember that most of our grass paddling even in the highest of water is in the airboat trails. Even in the trails it is tough, outside the trails it's a beating...so as not to use another word that is more appropriate and also begins with a b. (see Keith, I behave sometimes)

 

No airboats = no airboat trails.

 

No airboat trails = reduced access for paddlecraft.

 

I personally would like to see more airboats out there "maintaining" these waterways for our non-motorized use. Though we don't play much in the east everglades...but we do have some routes that we've been scouting...did someone say Chekika?

 

Personally, I prefer a model more like BCNP for ENP, but that ain't gonna happen. That's part of the difference between a park and a preserve, much less wilderness.

[Swamp Hunter]

Keep in mind also that many of the airboat trails were originally historic Indian trails..

 

I am also surprised and was not aware of the grandfathered airboaters rule. My guess its for private property owners access only. I will ask Dave when I see him as he was president of the airboat club.

 

My other good friend Jimmy Ruggles was part owner of the camp at Chekika. It was burnt down. The pump should still be there if you can find it. Many camp owners preferred to burn down their own camp as some sort of satisfaction before turning ownership over to the NPS.

 

We are all glad that the government is preserving the area from development but its sad to lose traditional use. I am glad to see someone fighting for recreational use in the East Everglades. I think everyone else has given up.

 

I used to love snipe hunting the East Everglades. I miss it and I miss spending nights at Chekika.

[yakmaster]

The trails are historic (look at the pictures from 1910), but when 41 came in, the indians didn't need their old highways anymore. Then the airboaters took them over & kept them clear. But if no one runs them, they grow over. Traffic, either lots of canoes & skifffs or a few airboats is what keeps them viable.

 

Use 'em or lose 'em

 

The way that the enabling language for the addition worked was that airboaters that were active back then, retained their rights, but no new folks could come on line, and the right to play is not transferrable or assignable, so as the old timers die off, so will their boats. Personally, I don't like it. I think airboating is part of the fabric of South Florida...kinda like stiltsville, even if you didn't play there you like it that someone could/did.

 

But that isn't a Dan Kimball or Fred Hurling issue, it's a congressional delegation issue.

 

Remember tonight's the last chance to comment in person on the GMP!  Come down to FIU & be heard!

[Esther Luft]

I will be there as will a number of our club members and local paddlers. 

The airboat issue may be a Congressional issue but certainly one worth mention from our groups.  I plan on making a brief statement in support of airboats and access. 

It is ultimately important to provide access to the Everglades in order to preserve it.  Marjorie Stoneman-Douglas and other conservationist of her time had to coerce the politicians to take a tour of the glades to prove to them it was not an desolate wasteland that should be developed.  Had this not occurred, we would be driving to resorts on Florida Bay today. 

Life in the glades exists in the micro.  If the public loses access to the glades it will also lose its understanding of just how precious a resource we have in our back yard.  Wilderness designation or not, without people, over the next few generations the glades will be lost to development. We humans have ALWAYS been a part of the wilderness equation.  We have always played a role in our eco-systems.  It is when our participation is restricted and our responsibilities are forgotten that our wilderness areas suffer. 

We have an opportunity to influence balanced access.  Don't let your opportunity to be heard pass.  Comment live or online.  Feel free to copy and paste comments with which you agree.  In the end, we all want the same thing, to protect the and enjoy the glades in as many forms as possible. 

See you there!

[Esther Luft]

There are two more meetings in the keys.

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/meetingNotices.cfm?projectID=11170

04/16/2013 5:30 PM 8:30 PM
Monroe County Government Center (Marathon)
Emergency Operations Center - 2nd floor
2798 Overseas Highway
Marathon, Florida
305-407-0177

04/17/2013 5:30 PM 8:30 PM
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary - Eco-Discovery Center
33 East Quay Road
Key West, Florida

To refresh the links, comment online at  http://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?documentID=51890

The comment period closes on May 12th.  Speak up!

[Swamp Hunter]

Great stuff yakmaster and Esther.  Thanks for refreshing the links. The historic trails should be kept open.  Think of all the US Army trails used during the Seminole Indian War that are lost. We just cant find them and I have been looking. The swamp gobbled them up. But I think that is what the NPS prefers.   

[Connie Mier]

Yep, see you there!

Esther Luft said:

I will be there as will a number of our club members and local paddlers. 

The airboat issue may be a Congressional issue but certainly one worth mention from our groups.  I plan on making a brief statement in support of airboats and access. 

It is ultimately important to provide access to the Everglades in order to preserve it.  Marjorie Stoneman-Douglas and other conservationist of her time had to coerce the politicians to take a tour of the glades to prove to them it was not an desolate wasteland that should be developed.  Had this not occurred, we would be driving to resorts on Florida Bay today. 

Life in the glades exists in the micro.  If the public loses access to the glades it will also lose its understanding of just how precious a resource we have in our back yard.  Wilderness designation or not, without people, over the next few generations the glades will be lost to development. We humans have ALWAYS been a part of the wilderness equation.  We have always played a role in our eco-systems.  It is when our participation is restricted and our responsibilities are forgotten that our wilderness areas suffer. 

We have an opportunity to influence balanced access.  Don't let your opportunity to be heard pass.  Comment live or online.  Feel free to copy and paste comments with which you agree.  In the end, we all want the same thing, to protect the and enjoy the glades in as many forms as possible. 

See you there!