STOP THE REMOVAL OF LIVESTOCK FROM PAYNES PRAIRIE STATE PRESERVE

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park is located in Alachua County between Gainesville and Micanopy, Florida. In 1971, it became the first state preserve in the Florida state park system, and it was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974. The state park encompasses 22,000 acres of complex and diverse systems of uplands and freshwater wetlands. The prairie basin itself covers more than 16,000 acres and is north Florida%u2019s largest freshwater basin marsh. The Paynes Prairie ecosystem supports a variety of plant and animal life and provides critical habitat for many species.

Recreational activities at the state park include wildlife viewing, hiking, biking, fishing, boating, picnicking, horseback riding, and primitive and full facility camping. Annual visitation is over 200,000.

In addition to its rich natural history, the park has a rich cultural history. Humans have frequented the area for more than 10,000 years. In the 1600s, the largest cattle ranch in Spanish Florida was based at the prairie. In an effort to represent this important part of Florida history, the FPS reintroduced two rare breeds of livestock to the state park for interpretive purposes, cracker cattle in the 1970s and cracker horses in 1985.

Historical records indicate that the American bison occurred in small numbers in north-central Florida for about 200 years prior to its eradication in the late 1700s. Deforestation of the landscape by European settlers, coupled with a concurrent dramatic decrease in numbers of aboriginal humans, had allowed the American bison to expand its range well into the southeast and even into north Florida (Rostlund 1960). For interpretive purposes, the FPS released a small group of American bison onto Paynes Prairie in the 1970s.

It is the Department of Environmental Protection/Florida State Park%u2019s responsible to protect these animals by keeping them roaming in Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. It is necessary for to keep these animals as well as anything pertaining to the park%u2019s natural and cultural heritage.

Visitors come from all over to enjoy this unique and precious habitat and come back time and again hoping to catch a glimpse of a bison, Cracker horse or Cracker cattle along with the other animals within this ecosystem.

Removing these animals would be detrimental to the park%u2019s well being both from an ecological stand point as well as a monetary stand point. Without the animals being in their natural habitat, visitors may stop coming thus creating more of a budget cut crisis.

The State of Florida%u2019s (Department of Environmental Protection/Florida Park System) proposed plan In order to manage livestock at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, it is proposed that the livestock be maintained in two separate mixed species herds. To prevent inbreeding, limit impacts to the natural resources, improve visitor safety, and reduce the incidence of escaped livestock, the main bison and cracker horse herds will be maintained as smaller, female herds in the area they currently range. The main cracker cow herd will remain at Hickory Ranch for the time being as a breeding herd to continue the FPS%u2019 role in preserving this heritage breed (FDEP 2002).

To improve visual access to these livestock species and increase interpretive

opportunities, a small, more closely managed herd, containing females of all three species, will be maintained in an interpretive grazing area adjacent to the Paynes Prairie Visitor Center. The grazing area would include about 150 acres of the prairie basin.

Support the Let the Livestock Roam Free in Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park petition to stop the Florida Department of Environmental Protection/Florida Park Service from removing wild bison, Florida Cracker Horses and Cracker Cattle from inside Payne%u2019s Prairie Preserve State Park, and request that you live up to your responsibility to protect our shared natural heritage by taking urgent measures to conserve these animals in their natural and cultural habitat.