No airboats, but hog hunts OK in Loxahatchee wildlife refuge

In the fight to protect two special places in Palm Beach County, the battles can seem endless.

One of those places is the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge — all that remains of the northern Everglades. The state owns it, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has managed it since Congress created the refuge in 1951.

Two years ago, the South Florida Water Management District seemed ready to run off the feds. The district found the service in default of its contract, supposedly for failing to eradicate an invasive species. Peter Antonacci, then the district’s executive director, called Fish and Wildlife Service employees “tin-eared bureaucrats” who were endangering Floridians.

Conservationists feared that the endgame was to escape federal oversight for Everglades cleanup and open the refuge to activities that could include farming. Under new management, however, the district in December announced a 20-year renewal of the management contract with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

As part of that renewal, however, the district asked the feds to consider adding about two dozen uses, including expanded hunting and camping and even frog-gigging. Refuge Manager Rolf Olson did tell the Sun Sentinel that the uses would have to be “compatible” with preserving nature.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is part of the Interior Department. Secretary Ryan Zinke has pushed for more public access to federal land. Notably, Zinke’s push does not include his home state of Montana, where he may run for governor.

On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Fish and Wildlife Service will hold the first of two “scoping meetings to help shape future management of the Refuge Visitor Services Program.” That discussion will take place at the Palm Beach County Extension Service in West Palm Beach. The second meeting is scheduled for 5-8 p.m. Tuesday at the South County Civic Center.

Lisa Interlandi is an attorney with Everglades Law Center. She understands the concern among refuge regulars over the prospect of anything but wildlife viewing and hiking. The annual alligator hunt annoys those who claim that it violates the spirit of a wildlife refuge.

Interlandi, though, considers increased passive access an opportunity to build support. Hog hunts, she suggested, could thin a species whose behavior damages the refuge. She called some of the proposed new uses “benign.”

But other proposals are “ridiculous,” such as allowing airboats. Interlandi called the idea “absolutely a recipe for disaster. People would be running over nests all the time.” Camping in the refuge interior? “There’s no way to make that safe.”

East of the refuge is the county’s Agricultural Reserve Area. In previous columns I have discussed the threats from excessive suburban-style development to South Florida’s dwindling farm belt. If suburban development prevailed in the reserve, agriculture there would be gone.

The largest single threat is the proposal by GL Homes — withdrawn for now — for permission to build 2,500 more homes in the reserve than current rules permit. In exchange, GL would preserve much of the development called Indian Trails Grove near West Palm Beach.

If the county commission went along, the swap would further suburbanize the area west of Boynton Beach. The Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations opposes the swap and has hired land-use attorney Richard Grosso, who teaches at Nova Southeastern University, in its fight to head off the plan.

GL’s leverage stems from the commission’s approval of nearly 10 times the homes GL could have built at Indian Trails Grove. So in a March 1 letter, Grosso argued that the commission should repeal that approval. Interlandi also signed the letter, representing Everglades Law Center and Sustainable Palm Beach County.

Grosso based his argument in large part on GL’s “own proposal to reduce the density in this region” through the swap. Without all that density, GL loses its bargaining chip.

Ironically, the best argument against the swap and for maintaining the reserve is economic. The reserve supports permanent jobs and a sustained economy that can’t be replicated in South Florida. The Loxahatchee Refuge is similarly unique. Both are much more than just land.

Fortunately, both have passionate defenders. If those defenders come to include more elected officials, the battles will get a little bit easier.