Help Save The Everglades’ Big Cypress National Preserve From Big Oil, Home To Critically Endangered Florida Panthers

Big Cypress National Preserve that lies in the Florida Everglades is 730,000 acres of critical wetlands, cypress forests, mangroves, and other ecosystems that are an important source of freshwater for the Everglades, and that remove climate-busting carbon from the atmosphere.

These lands are also vital to Indigenous tribes and serve as critical habitat for the endangered Florida panther, one of the most endangered mammals on earth with fewer than 200 remaining in the wild.

Shockingly, Burnett Oil Company is forging ahead with a plan to rip up this one-of-a-kind natural preserve so it can extract oil, causing irreversible destruction — to the land, water, wildlife, and our climate.

First, the company must secure permits from the National Park Service to access the preserve — and it’s critical that Interior Secretary Deb Haaland direct that agency to reject its permits in order to protect the vital ecosystem and move away from dirty fossil fuel extraction and toward a clean energy future.

If Burnett Oil secures their permits, Big Cypress will be transformed into an industrial sacrifice zone, forever scarred with drill pads, oil wells, roads, and other infrastructure prone to spills and leaks, including oil, drilling fluids, and potentially other toxic materials.

Habitat for the highly endangered Florida panther and other species of wildlife will be irreparably altered as their homes are destroyed, increasing their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather.

Please urge Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to act immediately to reject Burnett Oil’s plan to drill for more climate-destroying oil in this one-of-a-kind ecosystem by signing NRDC’s letter HERE!

We can’t let Big Oil plunder this precious wild ecosystem — especially at a time when we’re facing both an extinction crisis and a climate crisis. It’s more vital than ever to protect places like Big Cypress.

You can help all animals and our planet by choosing compassion on your plate and in your glass. #GoVeg