Holey Lands/Rotenberger W.M.A

[wilburz]

Anyone go to Holeylands today or Yesterday?
What has the Rain (downpours) done to the conditions? Muddy?
Thanks

Thought you were loading up and leaving Florida?

[MuddyGurl101]

What? I am leaving Florida?

[inked4life87]

im gonna try to go on my full track saturday if it dose not rain.

[wilburz]

What? I am leaving Florida?

the quote was from 300exstangboy

[MuddyGurl101]

I no but why did he say that?

[johnnygun]

it's been a long time.... is johnny's bass hole still there?

[mudhawg]

can some one give me directions from orlando thanks

[AintSkeered]

From Orlando, just drive south straight down US 27 to the Broward/Palm Beach County line and look for the Holeyland/Rotenberger Wildlife Management Areas sign. But, I gotta tell you that if I lived in Orlando, I'd go to Croom or Ocala before driving down to Holeyland.

[AintSkeered]

Neighbor claims he was told(yesterday) that Holeyland will close for a few weeks, starting tomorrow. They want to pump the water lout. FWC claims there's too much water and the wildlife has been forced to the levees. I'll take a ride out today and confirm.

[v125]

Closed indefinitely.  Here is the story:



http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-ppwetland17jul17,0,6080297.story?coll=sfla-news-florida

[Gamer]

Here is FWC's article about it on there website.

http://myfwc.com/whatsnew/05/stormnews/southwmaclosures.html

[AintSkeered]

I'd imagine that it'll prolly be closed August because even if they pump the water down, there's plenty more up north that has to come down, too.

[FWC-LT]

As of 12:00 am on July 18, 2005.  Holeyland, Rotenburger and Everglades Wildlife Management Areas have been closed to ALL public access.

The reason for this is the high water conditions that cause the deer and other wildlife to congregate on the islands and levees. 

Go to www.myfwc.com for more info on the closing.

At this time there is no telling how long the areas will be closed for.  when the area is reopened it will be posted on the above web site.

Please do not kill the messanger but I wil monitor this site to answer any questions that you have.

Thanks,

Lt. Chris Sella

[Da_Mtg_Man]

LT. Sella,
First I'd like to welcome you to the website. I wish we could get more law enforcement involved. If you have time please go through some of the different threads and you will see that the vast majority of us are all for helping to save what few riding spots we have left in FL. Of course there are always a few bad apples in every group especially a website with over 3000 members, I hope that you and others reading can overlook the idots (for lack of better term) and see that there are alot of members that are willing to help in any way possible. I look forward to getting some feedback from you.

Mike

[Asphaltdragon]

As of 12:00 am on July 18, 2005.  Holeyland, Rotenburger and Everglades Wildlife Management Areas have been closed to ALL public access.

The reason for this is the high water conditions that cause the deer and other wildlife to congregate on the islands and levees. 

Go to www.myfwc.com for more info on the closing.

At this time there is no telling how long the areas will be closed for.  when the area is reopened it will be posted on the above web site.

Please do not kill the messanger but I wil monitor this site to answer any questions that you have.

Thanks,

Lt. Chris Sella

What did you (the F.W.C.) think about our clean up efforts at the Holeyland, Rotenburger Wildlife Management Areas? If you did not see the video view it here please - http://www.atvflorida.net/video/atvflorida-holeylandswma_high.wmv

[FWC-LT]

I agree that there needs to be more speed limit signs along the levees out there.  The problem is that the area is managed by SFWMD for those types of things.  We have asked them several times to post more signs and they have not done so yet.

But, there is one sign on the L-5 that states that the speed limit is 25 mph and by law that sign is in effect until another sign counteracts the last one.  But there needs to be more signs.

As far as how people operate their vehicles on the levees it is controlled by the same laws as operating on any other roadway in the state.  The biggest things that we regulate is the speed and careless operation.  The biggest problems with the careless operation is we have to witness it.  Its kinda hard to hide our big silver trucks out on those levees to see all of the violations and we do handle them when we see them.

So, when the area opens back up again (who knows when) we will be back out there again.

[inked4life87]

fwc-lt let me ask you a question i read in the fwc website that you can still ride at aera 2.where is that,and can i ride a full track there.thanks any info would be great.i need a place to ride i will go nuts without some where to go....nick

[Grizzlygirl]

When we where out there doing the clean up, we were also talking to people out there to let them know the rules and if they do not follow the rules and keep trashing the place the FWC will close it for good. With anything we had a few bad responses but most people wanted to follow the rules to keep this place open. Thanks again for responding.
   Mama Grizz

[AintSkeered]

According to; http://www.wildflorida.org/hunting/wma/South_Region/05-06_EVERGLADES.pdf
Conversation area 2 is on the east side of 27 across from Holeyland/Everglades. Not saying this isn't one, but, I know of no legal entry point into that area, except via airboat.

[FWC-LT]

Area 2 is the area that is between the SawGrass Expressway and Us 27 from I-595 north to the county line.

The area is way too deep for track driving and there is no way to access the area by track since the area is boardered by canals.  If you have a floater you might be able to get across but dont try it.

As far as the clean up Its great!!  I wish more special intrest groups got more involved, in cleaning up areas and helping educate people on the rules.

[sk8r_dude]

Thanks for joining the site and helping us with accurate information. In a public fourm such as this, rumors fly so getting information from the "horses mouth" is refreshing. From FWC perspective, where do they see us riding in South Florida? I am permitted in Big Cypress and don't mind paying to ride their, but they are in their seasonal closer period now. BC is flooded for most of the year anyway and is better suited to swamp buggies than ATV's due to the deep water. If we don't have a legal place to ride, people will unfortunitly do the wrong thing. What does FWC expect us to do?

[FWC-LT]

Man you are asking a loaded question....

As far as FWC is concerned we want you to ride where it is legal.  The problem with South Florida is there are very few areas to ride to start with and those properties are either owned by the State or private.  As far as State Lands go its not just a matter of saying ok its owned by the state so go out and ride.  You have to look at why the land was purchased what they plan on doing with the land and the funding source for the land.  All three of these lead to the managemnet plan for the land and what is allowed and not allowed.  For instance...

The state buys a piece of land for storm water treatment also called a STA by SFWMD.  These lands are then made into an area that takes water run off from the urban areas and sugar fields to filter out contaminates before the water is released into the everglades or out to the ocean.  Due to the way these areas work you cannot disturb the mud or all of the filtration is lost.  These areas are closed to motorized vehciles and vessels.

The county buys a piece of land for preservation and uses a funding source that says that all lands purchased with these funds must be used only for passive recreational use (i.e. no motorized vehicles among other restrictions).  This is the case with alot of county lands in Palm Beach County.

These are just two examples thre are many more out there.

The only lands in South Florida that are either owned or managed by FWC is the Everglades, Holeyland, Rottenburger and Corbett WMA.  Big Cypress is a seperate area that I dont have alot of experience with so Im not really sure how it works.  On these lands we do allow operation of ATV's except during certain hunting seasons or when we close the areas due to high water or they close themselves due to the amount of water out there.

I wish there was a clear cut answer to your question but there is not.  The only thing that I can recommend you do is attend public meetings of SFWMD, the OHV commitee, FWC, etc and ask for more areas to ride.  Its not just a metter of asking but also working with these entities to make it happen.

God Luck

[wilburz]

FWC

What are the chances of the state ever letting ATV's ride out in the Corbitt area? I hunt out there and it looks to me that the buggies are really tearing the crap out of the place. Why don't they allow atv there like at BullCreek or 3 Lakes? Are those kind of changes hard to make as far as the state is concerned? 

[FWC-LT]

I have spoken to the head Biologist that oversees all of the WMA's in the Region and asked about ATV's in Corbett.  He stated that the vehicle rules have been in place for numerous years and if they decided to open the rules up and look at changing them they would make them more restrictive than they currently are.  So, it does not appear that they will be opening the area to ATV's any time soon, but that does not stop you all as a group t petition the FWC to open the area or give a better explanation as to the current restrictions.  I dont know the history of the rule or why its in place, its been that way for the 11 years that I have worked in this region.

[Busta Nutt]

Think about it Wilburz. Do we really want atvs out there where we are hunting? Them dam buggies are bad enough. I'm with the biologist on this one. I think they should change it to no vehicular traffic off of the numbered roads and no vehicles admitted without current tags, registration, and insurance all year round.