HT @UsagiTsukino

#Indigenous and Green Groups Protest #ICE’s “#AlligatorAlcatraz” in the #Everglades

Florida’s attorney general announced that construction of the jail in the #BigCypressNationalPreserve had begun.

By Stephen Prager, June 30, 2025

"Florida’s government has said the site will have no environmental impact. Last week, Uthmeier described the area as a barren swampland. He said the site 'presents an efficient, low-cost opportunity to build a temporary detention facility because you don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter. People get out, there’s not much waiting for ’em other than alligators and pythons,' he said in the video. 'Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.'

"But local #indigenous leaders have said that’s not true. Saturday’s protest was led by #NativeAmerican groups, who say that the site will destroy their sacred homelands. According to The Associated Press, #BigCypress is home to 15 traditional #Miccosukee and #Seminole villages, as well as ceremonial and burial grounds and other gathering sites.

" 'Rather than Miccosukee homelands being an uninhabited wasteland for alligators and pythons, as some have suggested, the Big Cypress is the Tribe’s traditional homelands. The landscape has protected the Miccosukee and Seminole people for generations,' Miccosukee Chairman Talbert Cypress wrote in a statement on social media last week.

"#EnvironmentalGroups, meanwhile, have disputed the state’s claims that the site will have no environmental impact. On Friday, the #CenterForBiologicalDiversity, #FriendsOfTheEverglades, and #Earthjustice sued the Department of Homeland Security in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. They argued that the site was being constructed without any of the environmental reviews required by the #NationalEnvironmentalPolicyAct.

" 'The site is more than 96% wetlands, surrounded by Big Cypress National Preserve, and is habitat for the endangered #FloridaPanther and other iconic species. This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the #Everglades #ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect,' said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades.

"Governor #RonDeSantis used emergency powers to fast track the proposal, which the Center for Biological Diversity says has left no room for #PublicInput or #EnvironmentalReview required by federal law.

" 'This reckless attack on the Everglades — the lifeblood of Florida — risks polluting sensitive waters and turning more endangered Florida panthers into roadkill. It makes no sense to build what’s essentially a new development in the Everglades for any reason, but this reason is particularly despicable,' said Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director and attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity."

Read more:
https://truthout.org/articles/indigenous-and-green-groups-protest-ices-alligator-alcatraz-in-the-everglades/

#ACAB #ICESucks #ICEKidnapping #GatorGitmo #Fascism #Authoritarianism #DeSantisSucks

Indigenous and Green Groups Protest ICE’s “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Everglades

Florida’s attorney general announced that construction of the jail in the Big Cypress National Preserve had begun.

Truthout

"The leading international authority that certifies dark sky parks says the artificial light from #AlligatorAlcatraz 'directly threatens' the preserve’s renowned natural darkness and disrupts endangered #nocturnal #wildlife."

https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2025/07/09/alligator-alcatraz-light-pollution-florida-everglades-big-cypress/

#LightPollution #DarkSkies #Florida #BigCypress

Darkness is crucial to Everglades habitat. Could Alligator Alcatraz threaten it?

Artificial light in a world-renowned “dark sky” preserve is just one of the environmental and human health concerns surrounding the facility.

Tampa Bay Times

@catsrule0000 Complete ignorance, make no mention of that land being sacred to those that have been marginalized since ships came to shore.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/state/2025/07/02/seminole-tribe-calls-alligator-alcatraz-threat-to-sacred-lands-florida/84450024007/

Alligator Alley, Big Cypress, It's beautiful.

Leave it alone or celebrate it.

#Seminole #Miccosukee #Everglades #BigCypress #Phish #AlligatorAlley #Florida

Seminole Tribe of Florida joins opposition to 'Alligator Alcatraz' in Everglades

The Seminole Tribe of Florida joined the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida and the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma in denouncing Alligator Alcatraz.

The Florida Times-Union
AH-TAH-THI-KI Museum - 30JAN2025

This museum for the Seminole nation is a must see, located in the Big Cypress Reservation. Go out of your way to visit and learn. Photos were allowed in several areas, so I'm including them here as a snapshot of why to...

Nature is our Medicine
Big Cypress - 26JAN2025

I searched for Reservation campgrounds online and found the Big Cypress RV Resort on the Seminole Nation. Work was quite busy, so I decided to plug in and stay for a bit.

Nature is our Medicine
Happy 25th #BigCypress #Phish followed this up by swinging through New Orleans for the sugar bowl / 99 ncaa fb championship.

How it feels today…

Controlled Burn, Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida. http://www.xiomaro.com

#xiomaro #photography #bigcypress #florida #fire #burn #heatdome #heatwave #nationalpark

My photograph of a Great Egret, which was recently on exhibition, has been published in Florida’s Fort Myers News-Press to illustrate Big Cypress National Preserve – where I spent a month as its Artist-in-Residence: https://tinyurl.com/5n6zrsxz

#xiomaro #photography #nationalpark #florida #fortmeyers #egret #bigcypress #fineart

Things to do: Summer is a great time for a swamp hike in Lee County. What to know

We have identified five places for an adventurous swamp high in Southwest Florida - two in Lee County and three in Collier County.

The News-Press

I love a full moon but sometimes the night before a full moon is just as thrilling! 🌕 Photographed in the Florida Everglades at Big Cypress National Preserve. Make it yours today by following the link below 👇

https://mark-andrew-thomas.pixels.com/featured/full-moon-river-mark-andrew-thomas.html

#moon #fullmoon #moonrise #everglades #floridaeverglades #bigcypress #bigcypressnationalpreserve #bigcypressswamp #sceniclandscape #moonscape

Full Moon River by Mark Andrew Thomas

Full Moon River by Mark Andrew Thomas

Mark Andrew Thomas - Website