Environmental Impact of the Big Cypress Swamp Jetport

[1] On June 2, 1969, Walter Hickel, Secretary of the Interior in the Nixon administration, created a select committee to conduct an inquiry into a proposed jetport[2] for supersonic transport in what is now known as the Big Cypress National Preserve on the border of the Everglades National Park in Florida.

The proposed Everglades Jetport would have had six runways for supersonic aircraft, 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.

"[5] 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.

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.