Friend,

An oil company is moving full steam ahead with its plan to drill in the Big Cypress National Preserve -- a fundamental part of the Everglades National Park's ecosystem.1

The Everglades is home to some of our country's most threatened and endangered animals, including some of the most endangered mammals in the world: Florida panthers. Right now, there are only about 130 of them left.2

We won't stand by and let dangerous drilling doom another species to extinction. Environment Colorado is calling on the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to stop this dangerous plan. Will you join us?

If you take a trip through the Everglades, or "the river of grass," you can find some of our most precious species in one of our most unique ecosystems -- the mix of fresh and saltwater in the park makes it one of the only places in the world where both alligators and crocodiles can survive.

But the park is home to hundreds of other species, including more than 60 endangered or threatened animal species and 60 "rarest of the rare" endangered plant species.3,4 One of the most threatened species? The Florida panther.

Years of development have cut the Everglades in half: The park has lost more than 7,000 square miles from its original landscape.5 And when the habitat goes, some imperiled species such as the last remaining Florida panthers are left with less habitat.

But through all the years and lost acres, the Big Cypress National Preserve next door has played a vital role in protecting the Everglades' health, filling the park with the freshwater it needs to support its surviving species. Now, we're sorry to say these places are valuable to a different powerful entity: the oil industry.

Help us save the Everglades from the dangers of drilling.

Just a few days before the Biden administration paused new drilling on public lands, Burnett Oil slipped in an application to drill near the Everglades.6 And when oil companies drill, they spill.

In 2018 alone, our country had more than 137 oil spills -- some spilling more than 2.1 million gallons at a time.7

Burnett's seismic testing for oil in Big Cypress has already irreversibly damaged this precious place.8 If it moves forward with drilling, it won't just damage Big Cypress, it could damage one of the most endangered ecoregions in North America that's filled with endangered species: the Everglades.

By standing up for the Everglades, we're not just standing up for the 7,000 square miles of unique ecosystems, we're also standing up for the dozens of endangered species that need the river of grass to survive.

Will you help them? Join us in urging Interior Secretary Haaland to protect the Everglades.

Thank you,

Hannah Collazo
State Director

1. Zachary T. Sampson, "Oil company wants to build wells in Big Cypress National Preserve," Tampa Bay Times, February 4, 2021.
2. Michelle Lee Ribeiro, "Beautiful Beasts of Busch Wildlife Sanctuary," Jupiter Magazine, February 22, 2021.
3. "Everglades Wildlife: Threatened and Endangered," Everglades Holiday Park, last accessed March 16, 2021.
4. Nicole Crowder, 'Rarest of the rare' plants face endangerment in the Florida Everglades," The Washington Post, March 18, 2015.
5. "Threats to the Everglades," Florida Museum, last accessed March 16, 2021.
6. Zachary T. Sampson, "Oil company wants to build wells in Big Cypress National Preserve," Tampa Bay Times, February 4, 2021.
7. Emily Cassidy, "There Were 137 Oil Spills In The US In 2018. See Where They Happened." Resource Watch, February 7, 2019.
8. Adriana Brasileiro, "Corps flip-flops on damage from hunt for oil in Big Cypress. 'Suspicious,' environmentalists say.," Miami Herald, April 15, 2020.