NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Foundation Document Everglades National Park Florida October 2017 Foundation Document To Naples Carnestown 95 25 mi 29 841 826 40 km 41 839 EVERGLADES Ochopee TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS NATIONAL CITY WILDLIFE REFUGE T 29 27 EN Gulf Coast Visitor 821 95 Monroe 41 Center Station 997 Sandfly Island CHOKOLOSKEE C YPRESS 112 T H O U BIG C YP RESS NA TIONAL PRESERVE SA N Miccosukee 836 D 836 Reserved Area Tamiami Trail MI AMI IS 41 41 LA N D 826 S Shark Valley 1 Everglades NP Visitor Center Loop Road EAST EVERGLADES Education ADDITION GULF OF MEXICO P INELAND Center 874 Tour 94 H ram T G U O URBAN L S DEVELOPMENT ZONE HARDWOOD HAMMOCK R E V I Chekika SW168th St. R K 997 R emorK eunevA A H S AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL 1 DEVELOPMENT ZONES 821 F RESHWATER SLO UGH E VER GLADES BISCAYNE NAT IONAL P ARK F RESHWATER NATIONAL MARL P RAIRIE PARK HOMESTEAD FLORIDA CITY COASTAL MARSH 9336 Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center NPS Headquarters Hole in the Donut Royal Palm CYP RESS Visitor Center H 1 G U O MANGR OVE L S R O C L A Y P A E T S 905 A B L E JOHN C O A PENNEKAMP S CORAL REEF TA STATE PARK L P RA I 1 RI E Ecosystems Color Key and Legend Flamingo Visitor Center Marine and Estuarine (seagrass, hardbottom, corals) KEY LARGO Coastal Marsh Mangrove Cypress North FLORI DA BAY 5 10 Kilometers Coastal Prairie 1 5 10 Miles Freshwater Slough Freshwater Marl Prairie ATLANTIC OCEAN Pineland Hardwood Hammock LIGNUMVITAE KEY STATEPRESERVE AQUATIC Existing Campground or Campsite Planned Campground or Campsite 1 Existing Visitor Facility Everglades National Park Contents Mission of the National Park Service 1 Introduction 2 Part 1: Core Components 3 Brief Description of the Park 3 Park Purpose 6 Park Significance 7 Fundamental Resources and Values 9 Other Important Resources and Values 11 Interpretive Themes 12 Part 2: Dynamic Components 13 Special Mandates and Administrative Commitments 13 Special Mandates 13 Administrative Commitments 15 Assessment of Planning and Data Needs 15 Analysis of Fundamental Resources and Values 16 Analysis of Other Important Resources and Values 35 Identification of Key Issues and Associated Planning and Data Needs 40 Planning and Data Needs 41 Part 3: Contributors 47 Everglades National Park 47 NPS Southeast Region 47 NPS Denver Service Center – Planning Division 47 Other NPS Staff 47 Photo Credits 47 Appendixes 48 Appendix A: Enabling Legislation and Legislative Acts for Everglades National Park 48 Appendix B: Inventory of Administrative Commitments 71 Appendix C: Basics for Wilderness Stewardship 76 Appendix D: Past and Ongoing Park Planning and Data Collection Efforts 86 Foundation Document Everglades National Park Mission of the National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The National Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world. The NPS core values are a framework in which the National Park Service accomplishes its mission. They express the manner in which, both individually and collectively, the National Park Service pursues its mission. The NPS core values are: · Shared stewardship: We share a commitment to resource stewardship with the global preservation community. · Excellence: We strive continually to learn and improve so that we may achieve the highest ideals of public service. · Integrity: We deal honestly and fairly with the public and one another. · Tradition: We are proud of it; we learn from it; we are not bound by it. · Respect: We embrace each other’s differences so that we may enrich the well- being of everyone. The National Park Service is a bureau within the Department of the Interior. While numerous national park system units were created prior to 1916, it was not until August 25, 1916, that President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act formally establishing the National Park Service. The national park system continues to grow and comprises more than 400 park units covering more than 84 million acres in every state, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These units include, but are not limited to, national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, and the White House. The variety and diversity of park units throughout the nation require a strong commitment to resource stewardship and management to ensure both the protection and enjoyment of these resources for future generations. The arrowhead was authorized as the official National Park Service emblem by the Secretary of the Interior on July 20, 1951. The sequoia tree and bison represent vegetation and wildlife, the mountains and water represent scenic and recreational values, and the arrowhead represents historical and archeological values. 1 Foundation Document Introduction Every unit of the national park system will have a foundational document to provide basic guidance for planning and management decisions—a foundation for planning and management. The core components of a foundation document include a brief description of the park as well as the park’s purpose, significance, fundamental resources and values, other important resources and values, and interpretive themes. The foundation document also includes special mandates and administrative commitments, an assessment of planning and data needs that identifies planning issues, planning products to be developed, and the associated studies and data required for park planning. Along with the core components, the assessment provides a focus for park planning activities and establishes a baseline from which planning documents are developed. A primary benefit of developing a foundation document is the opportunity to integrate and coordinate all kinds and levels of planning from a single, shared understanding of what is most important about the park. The process of developing a foundation document begins with gathering and integrating information about the park. Next, this information is refined and focused to determine what the most important attributes of the park are. The process of preparing a foundation document aids park managers, staff, and the public in identifying and clearly stating in one document the essential information that is necessary for park management to consider when determining future planning efforts, outlining key planning issues, and protecting resources and values that are integral to park purpose and identity. While not included in this document, a park atlas is also part of a foundation project. The atlas is a series of maps compiled from available geographic information system (GIS) data on natural and cultural resources, visitor use patterns, facilities, and other topics. It serves as a GIS-based support tool for planning and park operations. The atlas is published as a (hard copy) paper product and as geospatial data for use in a web mapping environment. The park atlas for Everglades National Park can be accessed online at: http://insideparkatlas.nps.gov/. 2 Everglades National Park Part 1: Core Components The core components of a foundation document include a brief description of the park, park purpose, significance statements, fundamental resources and values, other important resources and values, and interpretive themes. These components are core because they typically do not change over time. Core components are expected to be used in future planning and management efforts. Brief Description of the Park Everglades National Park was authorized by Congress in 1934. Because park lands could be acquired only through public or private donation, land acquisition proceeded slowly over the ensuing years. Through the sustained efforts of many supporters, and critical funding provided by the State of Florida, the park was eventually established 13 years later. President Harry S Truman dedicated the park on December 6, 1947, in Everglades City. Everglades National Park was the first national park in the United States set aside solely for its biological resources rather than its scenic or historic values, and it has received international recognition by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve and by the Ramsar Convention as a Wetland of International Importance. From the original 460,000 acres at the time of the park’s establishment in 1947, boundary changes expanded the park to 1.4 million acres by 1958. The Everglades National Park Protection and Expansion Act of 1989 added the East Everglades (109,506 acres) part of the park, bringing the Northeast Shark River Slough within the park boundaries. This East Everglades Addition (or the Addition) has provided the cornerstone of long-range planning to restore more natural hydrologic conditions and revitalize wildlife habitat and ecosystem health. The 1989 act also authorized modifications to the Central and Southern Florida Project to restore, to the extent practicable, more natural flows of water into the park, and it included flood protection provisions for adjacent agricultural and residential areas. The State of Florida subsequently donated some 44,000 acres to the park in a series of transfers in 1991, 1993, and 2003. This donation represents more than 40% of lands that comprise the East Everglades Addition. The park now encompasses 1,509,000 acres, including the largest legislated wilderness area (1,296,500 acres) east of the Rocky Mountains. The park preserves part of the remaining Everglades ecosystem, a vast “River of Grass” that originally extended from its headwaters in the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes through Lake Okeechobee and into the Water Conservation Areas and Everglades National Park, including the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Bay.