Written by Amber Crooks, Senior Environmental Policy Advisor
For over ten years, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida has championed protection of the Big Cypress National Preserve from the threatening impacts of oil drilling and exploration. Even long-time residents may be surprised to know that there is an oil field in southwest Florida called the Sunniland Trend. The oil here is not worth the squeeze considering the environmentally-sensitive locations that transverse the potential drilling areas.
Further, the oil here is considered a “heavy sour,” meaning it is not a great fit for use as gasoline. Florida’s oil reserves make up less than 1/10th of 1% of U.S. oil reserves and records show that some historic oil drilling in the Big Cypress has resulted in thousands of gallons of oil drilling liquids spilled on existing pads within the Preserve. Despite the Conservancy and partner’s efforts to block new seismic surveys that would be used to direct future new oil drilling, Burnett Oil completed two field seasons of surveys that ultimately left over 100 miles of rutting and impacts for many years after the 30-ton vibroseis “thumper” trucks were gone.
Because Burnett’s seismic survey resulted in impacts to wetlands, and restoration of the seismic lines will take time (and some experts question if they will ever truly return to pre-oil survey condition), the operator has committed to undertake a mitigation project to help restore degraded wetlands in another part of the Big Cypress National Preserve.
In March 2025, the Conservancy and our partners from Center for Biological Diversity and National Parks Conservation Association visited the restoration site. We visited the 272-acre site where old tomato fields that pre-date the Preserve are actively being restored. As part of the mitigation for oil impacts, miles of berms are being removed, which is aimed at restoring the hydrology of this area. The goal is that once the artificial berms that were built to allow farming decades ago are gone, a more natural sheet flow of water will allow for this part of the Preserve to be restored.
The Conservancy will continue to monitor the progress of this mitigation, as well as other related restoration needs within the Preserve related to Burnett’s prior damaging oil seismic survey.
