Position on H.R. 6843, H.R. 8206 & H.R. 8219

H.R. 6843 – To expand the boundaries of the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area to include Lafourche Parish, Louisiana: NPCA supports this legislation which would allow the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area to expand to include portions of Bayou Lafourche. This modification would provide heritage area managers with the opportunity to enhance their interpretive and preservation priorities and services provided to their constituents.

H.R. 8206 - To ensure that Big Cypress National Preserve may not be designated as wilderness or as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System, and for other purposes: NPCA strongly opposes this legislation that would prevent the National Park Service (NPS) from carrying out well-established mandates in accordance with the Wilderness Act and longstanding policy.

NPCA supports the efforts of NPS to evaluate lands for wilderness designation in Big Cypress National Preserve. Stewarding eligible and designated wilderness is part of the NPS mandate to sustain and preserve vital park ecosystems, like Big Cypress. Since 1964, wilderness designation has served as a proven conservation method that protects over 110 million acres of public lands and waters across the United States, and NPS is responsible for stewarding the majority of U.S. wilderness.

NPS is required by law to evaluate all land managed by the Park Service for wilderness eligibility. The evaluation process includes a detailed wilderness study, and should eligible wilderness be found, wilderness designation can be recommended for approval by Congress. In Florida, wilderness has played a significant role in protecting Everglades National Park, containing the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness holds profound importance within the park, drawing over a million visitors annually and embodying a rich tapestry of ecological importance and historical and cultural legacies within the first national park unit established for its biodiversity. Everglades National Park is also a shining example of how prescribed fire, invasive species management and removal, and other science-supported ecological management techniques are successfully employed within this designated wilderness. Should wilderness eventually be designated in neighboring Big Cypress, NPCA would encourage the continued use of science-supported ecological management tools as well.

Big Cypress National Preserve is a vital part of the Greater Everglades ecosystem and is crucially important to the long-term success of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, the largest ecosystem restoration project in the world. Big Cypress is located adjacent to Everglades National Park, provides over 40% of the water flowing into the downstream Everglades, and encompasses core habitat for imperiled species such as the iconic Florida panther and the ghost orchid. Big Cypress is a national treasure, encompassing a unique mosaic of hundreds year old cypress trees, wetlands, and wildlife species found nowhere else in the world. Big Cypress is also one of the most threatened park units, with enduring damage from seismic oil exploration activities and unauthorized off-road vehicle use that imperil the existence of the panther, ghost orchid, and many other threatened and endangered species. Big Cypress has undergone several wilderness eligibility assessments over the years, yet wilderness has never officially been designated within its boundaries. A wilderness designation is especially critical to protect Big Cypress from ongoing threats posed by oil exploration and drilling.

Most recently, NPS identified approximately 43% of Big Cypress as eligible wilderness in a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) in 2022, and the agency advanced a draft recommendation to designate 25% of the preserve as wilderness.

As NPS efforts to designate wilderness in Big Cypress move forward, it is important to center the rights and voices of the Indigenous peoples who call Big Cypress home, and who have stewarded these wild lands since long before the park service existed. NPCA supports wilderness designation to protect Big Cypress National Preserve’s one-of-a-kind ecosystems from damage and decline while ensuring the cultural and traditional uses of these lands can continue by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida. NPCA acknowledges the connection and cultural identity between this land and the Tribes and is eager for a solution that protects Big Cypress in perpetuity and simultaneously honors tribal interests.

NPCA urges the Committee to recognize the critical importance of protecting Big Cypress National Preserve and to not legislatively preclude the use of a valuable conservation tool.

H.R. 8219 – Lahaina National heritage Area Act: NPCA supports this legislation which calls for a study to assess the suitability and feasibility of potentially designating the Lahaina National Heritage Area. We also note that the addition of new heritage areas must be accompanied by a commensurate increase in the funding of the National Heritage Area program via the NPS Heritage Partnership Program.