The Important Bird Areas of Florida - National Audubon Society

The Important Bird Areas of Florida: 2000–2002 – Pranty – 2-Jul-02 218BIG CYPRESS SWAMP WATERSHEDBig Cypress National Preserve (729,000 acres; 291,600 ha), Collier–Seminole State Park (6436 acres;2574 ha), Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park (69,088 acres; 27,603 ha), Florida PantherNational Wildlife Refuge (26,000 acres; 10,400 ha), and Picayune Strand State Forest (15,935acres; 6374 ha). Adjacent private lands are sought for acquisition under the Belle Meade CARL–FFProject (9407 acres [3762 ha] remaining), Fakahatchee Strand CARL–FF Project (17,398 acres[6959 ha] remaining), and Save Our Everglades CARL–FF Project (35,139 acres [14,055 ha]remaining)Collier, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties908,403 acres (363,361 ha), with 846,459 acres (338,583 ha) acquired[This IBA needs additional information]LOCATION: all of eastern Collier County, extreme northwestern Miami-Dade County, and northeasternMonroe County, mostly south of Interstate 75, extending southwest nearly to State Road 951, andsouth nearly to the Gulf of Mexico. Contiguous with the Rookery Bay National Estuarine ResearchReserve and Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge IBAs to the south and the EvergladesNational Park IBA to the south and southeast.DESCRIPTION: a vast and extremely diverse area northwest of, and contiguous with, Everglades NationalPark, essential for the preservation of the Florida panther and numerous other floral and faunalspecies. Annual visitation of the sites is 503,000 recreationists and ____ hunters for Big CypressNational Preserve, ____ recreationists for Collier–Seminole State Park, ____ recreationists forFakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, and ____ recreationists and ____ hunters for Florida PantherNational Wildlife Refuge.OWNERSHIP: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge), U.S. NationalPark Service (Big Cypress National Preserve), Florida Division of Forestry (Picayune Strand StateForest), Florida Division of Recreation and Parks (Collier–Seminole State Park and FakahatcheeStrand Preserve State Park), and private owners (remaining acreage of the Belle Meade, FakahatcheeStrand, and Save Our Everglades CARL–FF projects)HABITATS: Big Cypress National Preserve: *slash pine flatwoods, *temperate hammock, *cypressswamp, *hardwood swamp, *freshwater marsh, tropical hammock, mangrove forest, cattail marsh,tidal marsh, riverine, lacustrine, estuary, artificial. [Need information for the other sites].LAND USE: Big Cypress National Preserve: *conservation, recreation, hunting, oil production, pilottraining. [Need information for the other sites].IBA CATEGORIES: Big Cypress National Preserve: significant populations of Endangered, SpecialConcern, FCREPA, and Watch List species; significant numbers of wading birds; complete diversityof slash pine flatwoods; significant natural habitats; and long-term research. [Need information forthe other sites].AVIAN DATA: Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve support the entire worldpopulation of “Cape Sable” Seaside Sparrows. The current status of sparrows in the Preserve isunknown, as surveys in recent years have concentrated on the population in the National Park.Picayune Strand State Forest may eventually support a viable population of Red-cockadedWoodpeckers. Bird diversity of all sites combined is ___ native species. [Is a bird list available forany site other than Big Cypress?].