To the west of the great fresh-water marsh called the everglades, lying
almost entirely outside the park, is an ecosystem vitally linked to the
park. Big Cypress Swamp is a vast, shallow basin that includes
practically all of Collier County. It is commonly called “The Big
Cypress”—not because of the size of its trees, but because of its
extent. Most of the baldcypresses (which are not true cypresses) are
small trees, growing in open to dense stands throughout the area. The
swamp is watered by about 50 inches of annual rainfall, the runoff from
which flows as a sheet and in sloughs south and west to meet the coastal
strip of mangroves and low sand dunes.
Big Cypress is speckled with low limestone outcrops, cut with shallow
sloughs 1 to 2 feet deep, and dotted with ponds and wet prairies. As in
the everglades, fire and water maintain the character of the plantlife
in this swampy realm of sunlight and shadow. Also as in the everglades,
a difference of a few inches in elevation creates different communities.
Tropical hardwood hammocks grow on rocky outcrops. In the depressions
arise bayheads and clumps of pond apple, pop ash, and willow. The larger
baldcypress trees grow in shallow sloughs, which are usually surrounded
by prairies of sawgrass and maiden cane growing on slightly higher land.
Although the several different plant communities resemble those in the
glades, they support slightly different plants, because of the sandy
soil (there being more quartz in the limestone under Big Cypress than in
the park).
These baldcypresses, many measuring 3 to 6 feet in diameter, were
heavily lumbered from 1930 to 1950. Today, few giant trees survive, but
a sizable stand exists on the Norris Tract—so named for its
conservation-minded donor—which forms the nucleus of Corkscrew Swamp
Sanctuary. Here, protected by the National Audubon Society, are
baldcypresses 130 feet tall; some have a girth of 25 feet! A boardwalk
more than one-half mile long enables you to enjoy the beauty of this
wild preserve without getting your feet wet.
[Illustration: CYPRESS STRAND]
WET PRAIRIE
TROPICAL HARDWOOD HAMMOCK
WET PRAIRIE
1 SOUTH FLORIDA SLASH PINE
2 BALDCYPRESS
3 POP ASH
4 ROYAL PALM
AIR PLANT
Large stands of baldcypress, called “strands,” support small communities
such as ponds, prairies, and tropical hammocks. One such hammock is
famous for the finest stand of royal palms remaining in south Florida.
The largest cypress strand—the Fakahatchee—extends some 23 miles north
and south a few miles east of Naples.
Big Cypress Swamp is the home of wild turkey, bobcat, deer, and an
occasional Florida panther. The fish-eating otter plays in its
waterways. Most of the birds found in the everglades also are found in
the trees and waterways of Big Cypress, because the swamp has an
abundance of food. The area is so rich in wildlife and edible plants
that the Seminole Indians formerly lived entirely off its products.
[Illustration: BOBCAT WHITE-TAILED DEER OTTER]
The eastern edge of the big swamp and its importance to Everglades
National Park came to worldwide attention in 1969 when it was selected
as the site for the proposed Miami International Jetport. According to
plans, this was to be the biggest airport in the world, covering 39
square miles and handling 65 million passengers a year. Millions of
persons were expected to make their home in and around the jetport. Such
a threat to the national park, into which the waters of Big Cypress
partly drain, provoked protest letters from all over the world. Most
writers objected on the grounds that Everglades belongs to all and that
a jetport here would seal the doom of the park. Congress acted in 1974
by establishing Big Cypress National Preserve to help protect the water
supply to Everglades National Park.