Big Cypress National Preserve

If you see a huge plume of smoke rising into the sky this time of year in Florida, there is a good chance it’s an under-control wildland burn that has little chance of spreading as opposed to a raging wildfire.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has rejected a permit application from a North Fort Myers company to drill an exploratory oil well north of Immokalee in Collier County, citing the potential for negative impacts on wildlife like the protected gopher tortoise and on water resources.

A Texas company’s plans to drill for oil in the Everglades may have a tougher time winning approval, now that an administration that’s skeptical of fossil fuels has taken over in Washington. Burnett Oil Co. has proposed drilling at two sites in Big Cypress National Preserve, important Florida panther habitat that sprawls across both sides of Alligator Alley.

Burnett Oil has asked state environmental regulators to construct two roads and concrete pads on wetlands in the national preserve and hopes to begin drilling by 2022.

A month after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said a Texas company searching for oil damaged wetlands in the Big Cypress National Preserve, the agency…

Need some social distancing? South Florida’s national parks will remain open but cut back on operations to reduce the risk of spreading the COVID-19…

A stand-off between Florida’s Indian tribes and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is threatening to derail work to restore more than a half million acres…

Officials say Florida trappers have captured a record-setting python as part of a growing effort that encourages hunters to remove the invasive snakes...

In the Florida Everglades, a team of invasive species researchers got more than it bargained for – a 17-foot-long python, plus 73 developing python…

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke picked up a machete to help clear a swamp buggy trail in the Big Cypress National Preserve.

It’s rare to see an unfiltered night sky in many parts of Florida. Artificial lights in highly populated areas, like Fort Myers or Miami, cover up views...