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Natural
Trails & Waters Coaliton Press Release List of Committee Nominees Does Not Comply with Federal Advisory Committee Act Contact: Amy Atwood, Attorney, 202-588-5206 Washington DC - Today, eleven organizations who support the National Park Service's Off-Road Vehicle Management Plan for Big Cypress called on Park Service Director Fran Mainella to restore balance to an advisory committee that will help implement the plan. In a letter sent to Mainella, Gale Norton, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, and Jerry Belson NPS Regional Director for the Southeast Region, these organizations expressed concern that the current slate of nominees are hostile toward balanced off-road vehicle management. "[I]f chartered with the membership now under consideration," wrote Attorney Amy Atwood of Meyer & Glitzenstein on behalf of the groups, the advisory committee for the Big Cypress Off-road Vehicle Management Plan "will be in violation of key provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act," including provisions requiring advisory committees to be fairly balanced and free from undue influence from special interests. The National Park Service Off-Road Vehicle Management Plan for Big Cypress National Preserve was developed to mitigate uncontrolled swamp buggy and other off-road vehicle use which has left the Preserve scarred with over 23,000 miles of highly destructive routes. The Management Plan will institute a 400-mile designated route system that minimizes impacts to the natural habitat of the Preserve. The Advisory Committee will assist the Park Service in developing the route system, among other things. Thus, the committee "will have extremely important advisory functions," wrote Atwood on behalf of the groups. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) requires that the composition of this committee be "fairly balanced in terms of points of view represented and the functions to be performed" and developed without undue influence from "any special interest." However, as documents recently obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) show, a list of committee nominees originally submitted to National Park Service Director Mainella was changed to be overloaded with interests who support damaging off-road vehicle abuse. "Advisory Committees, by law, are required to be 'fairly balanced in terms of the points of view represented,'" stated Mary Munsen of the National Parks Conservation Association and a recommended member of the Advisory Committee. "Unfortunately, politics has intervened to knock out nominees who support long term protection for the Preserve." Earlier this year, Big Cypress Superintendent John Donahue assembled a balanced list of nominees, including representatives of the conservation and off-road vehicle communities. However, documents obtained under the FOIA show how a former Big Cypress Superintendent and representative of the Florida Wildlife Federation worked together to replace at least half of Superintendent Donahue's nominations with individuals and groups who are hostile to the Management Plan. In addition, the former Superintendent and Florida Wildlife Federation representative removed conservationists from Donahue's original list of nominees who support the off-road vehicle management plan - including Brian Scherf of the Florida Biodiversity Project, a nationally-recognized expert on Big Cypress. If approved by Director Mainella, these recommended committee members - who have a proven track record opposing protection for Big Cypress - would jeopardize the intent of the Management Plan to protect the natural resources consistent with all legal mandates. "Big Cypress deserves protection," said Kristen Brengel of the Natural Trails and Waters Coalition. "This obvious lack of balance in the committee will hurt the efforts to truly manage swamp buggies and other off-road vehicles." The letter was sent by the public-interest law firm of Meyer & Glitzenstein on behalf of Florida Biodiversity Project, Biodiversity Legal Foundation, Bluewater Network, Defenders of Wildlife, Fund for Animals, Humane Society of the United States, National Parks Conservation Association, Natural Trails and Waters Coalition, The Wilderness Society, Wildlife Advocacy Project and Wildlands CPR.
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