Loxahatchee wildlife refuge plans to add new activities
The wading birds, deer and alligators of a vast Palm Beach County wildlife refuge may end up sharing the land with hunters, airboaters, campers, horseback riders and the occasional outdoor wedding.
The Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is exploring opening to a wide range of new activities, plans that leave environmentalists wary they could detract from the refuge’s principal mission of protecting nature.
The refuge sprawls across 230 square miles of Everglades marsh and cypress swamp west of the county’s suburban fringes, from Boca Raton to West Palm Beach. Established in 1951 to protect migratory birds — and currently providing homes to more than 250 bird species — the refuge currently supports bicycling, fishing and hiking, as well as limited hunting for alligators and ducks.
But ideas under consideration by its management would add many more activities. These include hunting for deer, hogs and small mammals. They include camping; walking leashed dogs; more trails for hiking, biking and canoeing; a new fishing pier; and an expansion of current hunting for waterfowl and alligators. They include outdoor weddings and yoga.
Rolf Olson, the refuge’s manager, said the initiative to consider more activities comes from U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who wants more federal lands opened up to the public, and from the South Florida Water Management District, which owns the land and leases it to the Interior Department, which has also pressed for more public access.
“Secretary Zinke is challenging all the Interior agencies to open up to as much public use as their mission will allow,” he said. “And when we negotiated a new license, the district asked us to look at a few things. They’ve just asked us to look at it. It’s still going to have to be compatible with our mission.”
Under the renewal in March of its lease with the water management district, the refuge agreed to consider 25 ideas for increased public access.
Olson said nothing has been decided. And a lot depends on what the public wants, as expressed in public workshops —taking place 10 a.m.-2 p.m. May 19 at Palm Beach County Extension, 559 North Military Trail, West Palm Beach, and 5-8 p.m. May 22 at South County Civic Center, 16700 Jog Road, Delray Beach — and written comments to the refuge.
Among the most controversial possibilities are hunting and airboats. Drew Martin, conservation chair of the Loxahatchee Group of the Sierra Club, which covers Palm Beach County, said airboats and hunting would be noisy and disruptive, making the refuge a worse place for both wildlife and people.
“This seems like a proposal to open the refuge wide open,” he said. “Airboating is extremely noisy, and it really upsets nesting birds. Hunting imperils peoples’ ability to enjoy the refuge.”
Celeste De Palma, director of Everglades policy for Audubon Florida, said she had concerns about the impact of hunting on wildlife populations. “The mission of the refuge is to make sure there’s habitat that supports wildlife,” she said. “Every decision needs to be seen through that lens.”
Bishop Wright, a West Palm Beach hunter who led efforts several years ago to open the refuge to alligator hunting, said he sees no conflict between the refuge’s mission of protecting wildlife and allowing hunting.
“It’s to preserve land for animals to stay in and for people to enjoy what Mother Nature has to offer,” he said. “It’s not a refuge for nothing to happen in.”