Pistol Pond Improvement Project
Advocacy
Water
Big Cypress
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Cypress IWLA is a grantee of the USFWS Partners for Fish and Wildlife program. The award, and collaborations it helps provide is how we have been able to accomplish the work we doing converting the Pistol Pond mining pit in the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge in to a productive lake with fishing amenities for the public to utilize. The project is long term, and support from a diversity of stakeholders will help assure success. For more information email contact@CypressIWLA.org
The project is a collaborative effort with the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service USFWS) Florida Ecological Services office
and the
The mine pit is 30-40 feet deep in some locations. The image above shows some “islands’ of rock that were not mined. These locations will be best to recreate fish habitat.
Pistol Pond is a quarry pit excavated for lime rock to create State Route 29 in Collier County, FL. It is located about 10 miles south of Immokalee at the north end of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.
Our Executive Director, Mike Elfenbein, has been working for over 15 years to have the quarry pit enhanced to become a recreational fishing lake with public access Those efforts are coming to fruition, but more needs to be done.
For more information email contact@cypressiwla.org
Goals:
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- To enhance Pistol Pond for recreational fishing opportunities and enrich youth’s understanding of natural resource management and their passion for the outdoor environment.
- To make Pistol Pond accessible to the public 7 days a week.
- To show that endangered species protection is compatible with humans on the landscape
- To nurture the next generations of fishery biologists and other professionals
- To emphasize that fishing to remove stunted fish is a critical management strategy
- Children and family invited will be from surrounding communities including Immokalee, Collier County Home-schooled, Tribes, Everglades City
“Pistol Pond Improvement Project” Website Introduction:
These pages chronicle the Project from inception until current.
There are three main items:
1. This “splash page.
2. A post for each event on the blog site.
3. Page with links to all reports and resources including educational resources from each activity, and
If you are interested in participating in any of these activities email Dr Nora Demers at contact@cypressilwa.org
We could use assistance with these parts of the project:
1. Coordinate Christmas Tree Drop-off locations in your neighborhood to create fish habitat.
2. Trucks to haul to site and place into pond.
Overarching Themes
The goals are aligned with the mission of USFWS to connect people to their environment. The USFWS role will focus on habitat improvement, especially creation of littoral zones, planting and restocking the pond with predatory fish and their prey.
Safety is paramount and will dictate when and how youth and public can be involved. There will be signage readily visible at the pond about safe consumption of fish.
The FFWC will work on the environmental education aspect of the project.
Tentative Proposed Schedule
October 2024
- First batch of prey stock expected from Welaka National Fish Hatchery
Nov/Dec 2024
- Site visit and assessment by USFWS including land management practices in Pistol Pond watershed.
- Place another order with Welaka National Fish Hatchery
Winter 2025
- Excavator to create better slope for boat access-
March 2025 (approximately 20 children from 2023 event 12-15 years old)
USFWS lead:
- Presentations by USFWS biologists about need and creation of littoral shelf and species present for good pond health (prey fish, plants etc)
- Electrofishing Demonstration: safety is critical
- Children would observe from the shore
FWC lead with CC-IWLA and FGCU assistance (before creation of littoral zone):
- Water quality data collection and assessment
- Aquatic vegetation planting
- Prey fish assessment (dip nets and seines)
- Macroinvertebrates survey
Timing TBD Virtual meeting with children, parents, Agencies and CC-IWLA
- Report with results and recommendations to determine the best actions to improve Pistol Pond.
Mid-April 2025 (when lake is at its lowest)- for safety reasons no children or family present
- Create habitat (littoral) using excavator to push spoil piles into pond and pulling back some of soil to create better slope for plantings and boat access (for future pond management)
Mid-May 2025 (more children at this event)
- (Stock prey fish from Welaka National Fish Hatchery)-blue gills, sunfish, and other forage fish (biodiversity)
- Plant vegetation in littoral zone as habitat for health food web.
Summer, 2025
- Assess (post littoral zones creation) for prey fish and macroinvertebrates
Nov 2025
- Stock pond with Florida bass
Jan 2026
- Stock pond with Christmas trees to make habitat for bait fish
Feb 2026
- Fishing Derby (goal 300 participants) intent is to expose youth to the outdoors and remove stunted fish including bass.