Posted by Rock Jetty on January 01, 1970 at 00:00:00
Thank you Joel. When Carlos contacted me about the closure, which I was not aware of, I asked him to write something for the TAS BirdBoard so A) people can become aware of the situation and B) anyone who knew something about this could share it with the rest. I immediately tried to contact someone I know at SFWMD but this person was not available Friday. I will try again on Monday. We don't know all the facts; we need to talk to someone at the agency to know exactly what's going on. This could be temporary; however, as with the case with Research Road (ENP) a few years back the District may not be aware that this area is birded often. This particular area of Miami-Dade is often unpatrolled and subject to vandalism, in both state and federal lands. It is my understanding that, in the near future, Richmond Drive may be closed where the Everglades NP boundary begins. This will occur because restoration to the Chekika campground will take place...eventually. The District may have concerns about vandalism to their pump station at C357, or maybe it is because of Off-Road Vehicle use in the are, which happens often and I have witnessed myself. Regardless, this area IS public land and may be accessed from the south, if one so chooses to walk the several miles through the Frog Pond WMA. A dialogue has to be started between the birding community and SFWMD/FWC concerning access to these areas. A "townhall" type of meeting could take place, sooner than later (maybe TAS could mitigate this). While Joel brings up an excellent suggestion, I agree with others' concerns: if you don't speak up and let the agencies know you exist, access to these areas may diminish more and more. -RJ