The "Environmental Impact of the Big Cypress Swamp Jetport", unofficially known as the "Leopold Report" or the "Leopold-Marshall Report", was a report authored by hydrologist

Luna Leopold Luna Bergere Leopold (October 8, 1915 – February 23, 2006) was a leading U.S. geomorphologist and hydrologist, and son of Aldo Leopold. He received a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 1936; an M.S. in physics-meteor ...

of the

United States Geological Service The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, an ...

for the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

and officially released on September 17, 1969. Arthur R. Marshall, formerly of the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

, helped draft the report. It is considered the first ecological impact report in the state of Florida.

Background

On June 2, 1969,

Walter Hickel Walter Joseph Hickel (August 18, 1919 – May 7, 2010) was an American businessman, real estate developer, and politician who served as the second governor of Alaska from 1966 to 1969 and 1990 to 1994 and as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1 ...

Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also

*Interior ministry ...

in the

Nixon administration Richard Nixon's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 37th president of the United States began with First inauguration of Richard Nixon, his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974 ...

, created a select committee to conduct an inquiry into a proposed jetport for

supersonic transport A supersonic transport (SST) or a supersonic airliner is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. To date, the only SSTs to see regular service have been Concorde and the Tupol ...

in what is now known as the

Big Cypress National Preserve Big Cypress National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in South Florida, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of Miami on the Atlantic coastal plain. The Big Cypress, along with Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas, becam ...

on the border of the

Everglades National Park Everglades National Park is an American national park that protects the southern twenty percent of the original Everglades in Florida. The park is the largest tropical wilderness in the United States and the largest wilderness of any kind east ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The proposed Everglades Jetport would have had six runways for

supersonic aircraft A supersonic aircraft is an aircraft capable of supersonic flight, that is, flying faster than the speed of sound (Mach number 1). Supersonic speed, Supersonic aircraft were developed in the second half of the twentieth century. Supersonic airc ...

, making it the largest airport in the world at the time. Russell E. Train, then undersecretary of the Department of the Interior, appointed Luna Leopold of the USGS to direct the

environmental impact assessment Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...

. Before the report was published, Wisconsin Senator

Gaylord Nelson Gaylord Anton Nelson (June 4, 1916July 3, 2005) was an American politician and environmentalist from Wisconsin who served as a United States senator and governor. He was a member of the Democratic Party and the founder of Earth Day, which launche ...

leaked key conclusions from the report in defense of the Everglades: "Either we stop the jetport at the present site, or we publicly admit that we are going to destroy the park."

Findings

When the report was finally released, Leopold began by stating his strong opposition to the plan: "Development of the proposed jetport and its attendant facilities will lead to land drainage and development for agriculture, transportation, and services in the Big Cypress Swamp which will inexorably destroy the south Florida ecosystem and thus the Everglades National Park."Davis 2009, p. 488 A report from the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

was subsequently published the next day supporting the findings of the Leopold report.

Outcome

Because the jetport did not meet the necessary standards, Walter Hickel opposed it. Hickel successfully defeated the construction of the jetport by preventing it from being listed by the Department of Transportation for funding under an airport development program.Warshaw 1996, p. 61 Although construction of only one runway was completed, the remains of the Everglades Jetport was later opened as the

Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport is a public airport located within the Florida Everglades, 36 miles (58 km) west of the central business district of Miami, in Collier County, Florida, United States. It is owned by Miami-Dade ...

and is sometimes used as an aviation training facility.

Notes

References

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Background

Findings

Outcome

Notes

References

Further reading