Mike Elfenbein loves hunting turkeys. This is one of the reasons why he is so committed to protecting the Big Cypress National Reserve. So, the opening weekend of the spring season in South Florida was the perfect combination for him.
The recent Friday night was at the Green Heart Gala at the Saloon of Ron Bergeron in Weston, where auctions took place, ranging from safaris in Kenya to artwork and python hunts where the Mikkoski tribes raised money for the Green Heart of the Everglades project.
Elfenbein, who grew up in Miami and now lives in Englewood on Florida’s west coast, is the executive director of the Cypress chapter of the 102-year-old conservation organization, the Izaak Walton League of America (www.iwla.org). IWLA is one of the supporters, along with the Bergeron Everglades Foundation, Family Lands Remembered, Wild Landscapes International and the Miccosukee Indians of Florida who are behind the ambitious projects.
The goal is simple and monumental. Purchase the 450,015-acre reserve and the mineral rights of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Evacuation to not only prevent oil drilling, but continue to allow for hiking, wildlife monitoring, camping, hunting and one hour of expansive vast fishing in Miami.
The morning after the fundraiser, Elfenbein was in the woods with Matt Parish from Bergeron Green Glaze West Ranch, adjacent to the northern boundary of the reserve.
They were playing male turkey goble before sunrise. And when the Gobbler finally managed to watch the mist, he intended to follow a group of chicken turkeys, rather than going into Yelps and Clucks that Elfenbain did with his slate call.
This is turkey mating season. Male turkey gobles and struts blow feathers and impress the hen. This turkey bites in for over an hour and struts continuously, but he didn’t seem to be moving forward with the gal. He turned to Elfenbein, who had a turkey decoy in front of his blind from 250 yards away, but he decided to stick to the chickens and disappeared behind them.
That’s when Parish suggested they walk to another part of the property. They ran through the ditch and as Parrish scanned the field ahead he spyed on two gobblers about 300 yards away.
Move quietly and use trees to cover up your approach and set it up at the edge of the field. Elfenbein called out to get the Goblers’ attention, and he kept calling as the duo walked slowly.
“They didn’t seem interested at first,” Elfenbein said. “They got a little closer, their heads turned, they started coming a bit. The first bird, he ran for 10 yards and then entered the strut, the second bird ran up behind it, the first bird ran in front of him and back on the strut, they continued it, did it, did it.
Follow Tampa Bay’s top headlines
Subscribe to our free Daystarter newsletter
We provide you with the latest news and information you need to know every morning.
You’re all signed up!
Want more free weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.
Check out all options
“When they reached 80 yards, I made another call and they bowed their heads and ran to me in a straight line.” And once they were within the range of the shotgun, Elfenbein dropped a strata in one shot.
The large Cypress Reserve allows you to hunt turkeys in the spring. The land’s mineral rights are owned by the Colliers, who sold much of the land for the reserve 50 years ago, but retained the basement rights. Elfenbein said he plans to drill for oil. By purchasing mineral rights from Collier, no excavation occurs.
About 20 years ago, the federal government tried to buy mineral rights, but this transaction was problematic and never happened.
Elfenbein said the groups involved are “doing that the right way.” We’ve been working systematically for three years, and we’re the last. ”
Instead of using taxpayer money, the purchase is funded by Land and Water Conservation Fund. According to Elfenbein, LWCF generates $900 million per year from royalties collected from oil companies developing mineral rights in the Gulf.
“So we’re going to use oil royalties to win oil rights,” he said, adding that LWCF money is allocated to all states. However, some western states don’t like federal policies or regulations that fit handouts, so they return the money. “And I would like to make use of about $300 million.”
The process is almost complete and requires one evaluation as the Fed remains. Fundraising will help you pay for that assessment.
“We held a great, great meeting in Washington with the Congressional Delegation, the Indian Affairs Bureau and the Ministry of Home Affairs, and so far no one has said to us no,” Elfenbein said.
A big bonus to the plan is to eliminate the need for a wilderness designation in the reserve. The designation will stop oil drilling, but it also prohibits access to commonly used airboats, swamp buggies, off-road vehicles, and electric vehicles such as Mikucosk, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the National Park Service.
“So now we have found a way to legally alleviate the bodies of their mineral rights, and the idea that we need the wilderness to stop the development of oil is outside the window,” Elfenbein said. “The people who hid behind us to stop the oil drilling through the wilderness really just wanted to keep everyone out.”
Instead, the large cypress is preserved and open to everyone, including turkey hunters.
