Public Land Private Agenda

After Florida Attorney General, James Uthmeier, publicly proposed constructing a migrant detention center at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on June 19, news sources and social media flooded the internet with their praises and disapproval. Conservationist and environmental storyteller, Benji Studt, was among the crowd of opinions, igniting a wave of public concern with his trending videos on Instagram. With nearly two decades of experience in land management and ecological restoration in Florida, Studt is uniquely positioned to evaluate what he calls an "environmental and logistical disaster." 

"It's hard to understand this as something other than political theater," Studt said. "This was rolled out on social media with a produced video that leaned into Everglades myths rather than ecological facts." 

The site, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” sits within Big Cypress National Preserve - a critical part of the Everglades ecosystem and the drinking water recharge zone for eight to nine million Floridians. Studt points out the dangerous irony: "They're building what amounts to a small town 40 miles from any infrastructure in the middle of a national park and an International Dark Sky site." It’s impossible to know what kind of consequences will result from a new population of people being housed in an ecological haven, admits Studt, at least without public understanding of the details. Despite assurances from state officials, there is still no clear waste management or infrastructure plan for the facility.  

Government officials praise the efficiency of the facility, underscoring the advantage of pre-existing infrastructure and highlighting the remote, wildlife-surrounded terrain as an implicit security barrier. Studt disagrees, questioning the flawed logistics, "What is efficient about trucking in food, water, and fuel, and hauling out waste from 40 miles away every day?" 

Studtalso calls the detention center's supposed security a "fallacy," noting the abundance of natural resources and escape routes: "Water is everywhere. There's abundant shelter, calories, and buggy trails that connect to the Florida Trail."Years of archeological history can prove the misconception of the Everglades as a desolate deathtrap inaccurate. Studt mentions, “All the resources that humans need to survive is right there in the Everglades. Tens of thousands of Native Americans called the Everglades home before European contact - and it’s still possible to thrive there today.” 

But Studt's greatest concerns are ecological. The site lies in prime breeding habitat for the endangered Florida panther. "There are only 120 to 230 Florida panthers left in the wild," he said. "And they're putting thousands of people and constant artificial light right in the middle of one of the most important places for their breeding.” With the top threats of Florida panthers being habitat loss and vehicle collisions, an increase of human activity within their significantly small range will only impede the recovery efforts of this famously skittish species. “It will undoubtedly have an effect," assures Studt.  

The facility's construction could jeopardize decades of Everglades restoration efforts. Billions of dollars have been invested in large-scale water storage projects - like the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) reservoir - to collect, clean, and redirect nutrient-rich water from Lake Okeechobee. These projects aim to restore natural flow patterns by storing water in massive reservoirs and gradually releasing it into ecosystems like Big Cypress and Lostman’s Slough, a critical wetland system located just southeast of the detention site. "It’s like building a racetrack, investing billions, and then putting a speed bump on the track before the first race," said Studt.  

South Florida Water Management District biologists have been working to increase dry season flows into this area. But the presence of a large detention facility, housing thousands of people, introduces a major complication. Not only is the site located in a FEMA-designated flood zone, but it also sits in a region where restoration efforts depend on unimpeded water movement. 

In addition to the ecological risks, Benji Studt warns that the economic costs of Alligator Alcatraz are staggering. The project is being funded through FEMA's Shelter and Services Program, a stream of federal money typically used to support emergency sheltering. “It’s estimated that it’s going to cost $450 million a year. That’s over $1.2 million every day of taxpayer money,” Said Studt.  

He’s now urging people across the country to speak up. “This is federal money - our money - and it’s being spent in the middle of the Everglades,” he said. Studt encourages residents to contact their U.S. representatives and senators, calling on them to oppose the continued use of FEMA funds for the project. “We do have a say, as much as our collective voice has a say,” he added. 

For Studt, the fight is far from over. He urges the public to support the Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, which filed a lawsuit to halt the project due to the lack of environmental review. Studt's call to action is grounded in a deeper belief: "Public lands aren't a partisan issue. They're something that bring people together. The overwhelming majority of Americans support national parks.” 

As construction continues with limited oversight, Studt remains a steady voice of reason and resistance. "The Everglades is not desolate. It's abundant. It's alive. And it's not the place for this."