Dear Gov. DeSantis and Secretary Valenstein,

Big Cypress National Preserve is our country’s first national preserve — a cherished expanse of the Greater Everglades that’s home to threatened and endangered species. So it was disconcerting when the Burnett Oil Company applied for Florida permits to construct well pads and access roads in Big Cypress, as a precursor to additional permitting that could allow the company to drill there.

I have numerous concerns about the impacts the seismic survey activities of 2017 and 2018 have already caused in Big Cypress — which is an Outstanding Florida Water to which no degradation is allowed — including long term soil, hydrologic, and vegetation damage. The company’s seismic activities severely damaged wetlands and cypress trees in the delicate ecosystem, an area critical for sending fresh water south to Everglades National Park, and a crucial habitat for the endangered Florida panther and other imperiled species. One of the permit sites is also located very close to the Miccosukee Federal Reservation, whose concerns include cultural and archeological sites of significance in that area.

Authorizing the destruction of wetlands in the Preserve is not in the public’s interest. The potential damage to the Preserve from additional road and well pad construction and oil extraction should not be permitted. The additional greenhouse gas emissions that would result from further oil development is an immediate threat to the Everglades that would only propel the increasingly urgent issue of climate change. The Preserve currently acts as a critical carbon sink, and any alterations would threaten to remove a natural first line of defense against rising seas.

In a letter to state and federal agencies, environmental groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council and Center for Biological Diversity outlined their repeated opposition to Phase I geophysical oil exploration and proposed drilling in Big Cypress National Preserve. We write now to join their call for opposition to the Department’s issuance of permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Part IV of Chapter 373, Florida Statutes, or any other permits, that would authorize or facilitate new oil exploration or drilling in the Preserve.

The importance of Florida’s wild places and the inextricable link between a healthy environment and a healthy economy cannot be overstated. The Everglades is already an ecosystem that has been fractured in so many ways by the activities of man. Its remaining remnants deserve the utmost protection if we are to ensure its preservation for future generations.

Please reject the permit applications from Burnett Oil Co. seeking authorization to develop infrastructure to facilitate new oil drilling in Big Cypress National Preserve.

Thank you,