South Florida Wildlands Association

06/18/2026

The overall drought situation has improved in South Florida, but virtually all of the region is still abnormally dry or in moderate, severe, or extreme drought. Plus its hot - very hot - and that heat can overwhelm the effects of recent rainfalls by sucking moisture from plants and soils. Fierce new fire in the Everglades was apparently caused by a lightning strike - but with lots of dry fuel, it can still grow quickly.

Major South Florida roadways remained closed on Thursday and around 200 residents evacuated as a brush fire in western Miami-Dade County burned thousands of acres and a second blaze worsened the smoky conditions.

06/18/2026

This is a follow-up to a recent post on this page regarding a federal judge's ruling on text and displays removed from at least 37 national parks through executive order. The order demanded restoration. While we still don't have information on what specific content was removed, a recent court filing obtained by The Hill shows the basic reason for the removals. They seem to be split between "Unrelated to beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the natural landscape" and "Disparages Americans past or living." Some of the removed signage is still in the impacted park while some has been discarded.

It's unfortunate that not everything on public lands is beautiful and not all actions, past and present, are good or noble. But we think it's important for all of it to be presented. Here in South Florida, we would love for visitors to know that all old-growth cypress trees in the Big Cypress National Preserve were removed by logging between 1940 and the late 1950s. We want visitors to Biscayne National Park to know that the park was not long ago supposed to become a major new city called Islandia and a massive port called Seadade. In Everglades National Park, it's important to tell the story of the "plume hunters" who decimated massive numbers of wading birds including American flamingos, now proposed for Florida's official state bird.

Spreadsheet with information on removed texts and displays is available in the first comment.

Dozens of materials, including signs, exhibits and films, were removed from national parks as part of a Trump administration effort to remove items that it says “disparage Americans.” A new c…

06/17/2026

Sad story from Utah where a young, malnourished mountain lion wandered into the town of Hurricane and hung around a couple of days. Though no one was threatened, authorities decided the cat was a potential threat and euthanized it.

At 18 months, this cat was likely newly dispersed from its mother and was seeking food. Apparently it wasn't successful at hunting, and that was the reason it was hanging around the town. Some excerpts:

"It was a young lion, probably dispersed from its mother, and it was just trying to kind of make a life on its own," said Conservation Outreach Manager for the Division of Wildlife Resources Adam Kavalunas. "It appeared malnourished."

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said that while the animals typically prefer a life of solitude, this cougar was likely struggling to find food and turned to the city.

"It's not uncommon to see lions around cities and urban areas, but usually it's just a one-and-done kind of thing," he said. "If an animal hangs around for a couple days, it's likely becoming reliant on an urban setting."

This is exactly what happens in Florida when young Florida panthers disperse from their mothers at around two years. They must find some distance and, especially males, have to move far away from the dominant male that fathered them (often inside protected public lands) or they will be killed. A main reason why so many panther road kills are young males. And doorstep photos of panthers in the growing suburbs of Southwest Florida are becoming increasingly common.

"As we continue to build in the state of Utah, we are growing into areas where wildlife used to roam," he said. "So, we just need to be prepared when those circumstances come about. And I realize that we're all trying to share the same space."

Though not mentioned in this article, in 2025, Utah enacted an aggressive and controversial strategy to eliminate mountain lions in certain areas in order to increase the deer population:

"Utah’s aggressive mountain lion culling is driven by legislative mandates (H.B. 125 and H.B. 469) and state-led studies aiming to reduce cougar populations in an effort to boost mule deer numbers. The state utilizes year-round, unlimited hunting and trapping, and has implemented intensive, state-paid predator removal in six specific management units."

A mountain lion was euthanized after several sightings in town.The 18-month-old mountain lion spent about two days in Hurricane on June 10th and 11th."It was a

06/16/2026

These stilt chicks have the will to take to the air like their parents, but they're just not ready. Still, the chicks are considered "precocial" and are walking, swimming, and even foraging within a few hours to a day after hatching. The parents will lead them to prime mud flats where they can find the small aquatic insects, invertebrates and little fish that they feed on.

Stilts are found worldwide, typically inhabiting brackish wetlands, marshes, and mudflats. Florida and the rest of North America hosts the black-necked stilt. No identification is given in this beautiful little video, but believe these are black-winged stilts that are the old world counterpart. Many consider them the same species as the variety we have here in Florida. There are other birds that look like these, but those long pink legs give them away instantly.

Stilts are also ground-nesters - and can be threatened by loss of wetlands, rising water levels, and by intense mowing around the edges of water bodies where they nest.

06/15/2026

The first time we learned that money was shifted from buying land under Florida Forever to buying easements on private lands was under the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act of 2021. We also learned at that time that landowners were not only receiving money from the state for the easement (essentially agreeing not to develop their lands but continuing to own and farm them), but they could also "sell" that easement to developers as mitigation for other rural lands that were being developed. Basically, landowners were being paid twice.

In addition to all the other factors listed in this article, like these easements on private lands not going through an evaluation or vetting process anything like Florida Forever Land, and the land not being owned by the state and made available for public recreation, we have lots of questions about this latest switcheroo on buying conservation land in Florida. We will try to answer them soon.

It would've been better all around if the money being raised by the Amendment 1 Water and Land Conservation Initiative (about $1 billion a year in recent years) simply went directly to Florida Forever. That is what voters expected back in 2014 when they overwhelmingly approved that amendment. This zeroing out of Florida Forever in 2026 does not feel right at all.

Despite criticism, key Republican lawmakers say Florida is doing a lot to conserve its undeveloped land.

06/14/2026

"to conserve the scenery and the natural and HISTORIC objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Mission of the National Park Service - from the Organic Act of 1916.

Managing national parks was always supposed to include the telling of the the history that are a part of those special places. Of the 433 units that are a part of the National Park System, 76 are National Historic Sites, 58 are National Historic Parks, and 25 are National Battlefields or other military sites. But all NPS units in all 50 states contain a rich history, good and bad, that is intended to be preserved and shared.

Excerpts from the article:

"The Trump administration issued an executive order, entitled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," in March 2025 ordering national parks to not display elements that "inappropriately disparage Americans past or living."

"Under the guise of promoting American dignity, this Administration seeks to share a limited history by ordering the removal of all signs, displays, and interpretive exhibits at National Parks that do not align with its preferred narrative, thereby telling half-truths," (U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley)

President Trump issued an executive order in March 2025 ordering national parks to not display elements that "inappropriately disparage Americans past or living."

06/13/2026

The mermaids at Weeki Wachee River State Park still perform 365 days a year - but not quite as impressive as this lone dolphin exploring the river on a solo trip.

The Weeki Wachee runs from the first magnitude headspring inside the state park and travels over 7 miles west before emptying directly into the Gulf of Mexico near the community of Bayport in Hernando County.

Ecological problems in this spring and river include pollution from the surrounding 270-square mile springshed which is developing rapidly; impacts from kayakers exiting boats on fragile shorelines - trampling vegetation, eroding sandbars, and blanketing aquatic vegetation in sediment; and alge blooms from the incoming nutrient pollution. But its underground caverns still produce 117 million gallons of water daily at a constant temperature of 72 to 74 degrees.

Florida's springs are a treasure - but they're not just for human recreation and need more protection on many fronts.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1FDjswzPQP/

06/12/2026

Happy National Cougar Day! SFWA is proud to work on behalf of the one puma/cougar/mountain lion/panther population that still exists in the Eastern US - the Florida panther!

"Observed annually on June 12, National Cougar Day raises awareness for the conservation of North America’s most adaptable apex predator (also known as the mountain lion, puma, or panther). The day highlights their critical role in healthy ecosystems and the threats they face from habitat loss."

Interesting article. No matter where they live across the Americas, virtually all members of the species are facing similar, dangerous threats. SFWA will do all we can to protect those that remain in Florida.

National Cougar Day highlights the importance of conserving cougars, as habitat fragmentation and human conflicts threaten populations.

06/12/2026

Anyone who lives or spends time in Miami-Dade County knows Biscayne Bay as it's eastern edge. But what's not visible when looking at that massive expanse of water is how dramatically the bay has changed in recent years. It's warmer, saltier, filled with more nutrient runoff, and more acidic. It's also less oxygenated, and when algae take over as happens some years, oxygen levels can plummet beyond the capacity of fish to survive. This is a sad but powerful article on Biscayne Bay's shift to a completely different (and more degraded) ecosystem. Excerpt below just on the impact of salinity to marine wildlife. But since the bay is completely connected to the Biscayne Aquifer, added salt water (that is slowly rising) can also impact the drinking water for millions as this situation progresses.

"The bay’s fish are already registering the shift. Joseph Serafy, a NOAA research fishery biologist who has tracked Biscayne Bay fish communities for two decades, has watched the catch change as the water grows saltier. Snook, seatrout and mullet—species that thrive where fresh and salt water mix—have declined, he said, while fish that tolerate a wide range of salinity, like gray snapper and grunts, hold on. It is the signature of a bay tilting away from its estuarine past: As the brackish conditions vanish, so do the creatures built for them."

A 20-year record reveals an estuary tipping toward a saltier, more acidic state. These conditions threaten its hammerhead shark nursery and the aquifer that supplies Miami’s drinking water.

06/11/2026

You might not refer to a Southwest Florida parking lot as "scenic" - but Florida skies are always worth a look no matter where you are. Especially in the wet season when clouds are at their most dramatic. Photos taken last night on an iPhone after sunset. Last photo taken Friday night during the conjunction of Venus (the brighter one) and Jupiter.