Florida

The Miami Beach Police Department said Tuesday it has initiated termination proceedings against two officers, one of whom was involved in an ATV crash that injured three people this weekend.

The department said it is proceeding with the termination of the employment of officers Derrick Kulian and Rolando Gutierrez due to "behavior consistent with conduct unbecoming a police officer" and for what it called "actions amounting to dereliction of duties." Both officers have already been relieved of duty.

The officers' terminations stem from events surrounding an ATV crash on Miami Beach early Sunday.

Some families in the north part of Cape Coral say they're fed up with noisy ATVs and trucks near their homes. They're asking the city to block access to a wooded area, north of Jacaranda Parkway.

Homeowners we spoke to say the constant commotion, even in the middle of the night, is making their lives miserable.

A man driving a four-wheeler disappeared into the woods after leading a Bay County Sheriff’s deputy on a chase Monday afternoon.

According to a BCSO incident report, a deputy watched the four-wheeler speed across all four lanes of traffic near Highway 77 and Crooked Lane near Deane Bozeman School, then travel eastbound on Woodland Avenue.

Airboats, ATVs and other motor vehicles have been banned from the Holey Land Wildlife Management Area, a popular hunting spot on the Broward-Palm Beach County line.

The ban, which went into effect on Monday, is supposed to prevent wildfires sparked by dry weather and low water levels, said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The motor vehicles could ignite fires in the dry marsh land west of U.S. 27.

Airboats, ATVs and other motor vehicles have been banned from the Holey Land Wildlife Management Area, a popular hunting spot on the Broward-Palm Beach County line.

The ban, which went into effect on Monday, is supposed to prevent wildfires sparked by dry weather and low water levels, said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The motor vehicles could ignite fires in the dry marsh land west of U.S. 27.

David Fleshier

In a decision that drew immediate fire from both hunters and environmentalists, the National Park Service on Friday announced a final plan to allow hunting and off-road vehicles on a part of Big Cypress National Preserve bordering Broward County.

The plan will open up the land to hunting, establish 130 miles of off-road vehicle trails and allow the preserve to issue up to 650 off-road-vehicle permits on territory that straddles Alligator Alley. The plan also proposes that 74 square miles south of Alligator Alley be designated federal wilderness, the highest level of protection, which requires authorization by Congress and would prohibit motorized vehicles.

More than 20 years ago, Brevard County residents made a statement that was at once bold and wise.

They voted to create a program that would save some of the most unique natural resources that grace our community for residents and future generations.

John Davis

A North Port leader's effort to revisit the city's all-terrain vehicle law was stymied on Monday by the rest of the panel.

In the wake of the death of a 12-year-old, Commissioner Jim Blucher was looking to talk about North Port's off-road riding rules. The city softened its stance on ATVs last year after lobbying from riders who were hampered by a policy requiring written permission from property owners.

David Fleshler

A vast sweep of forest, swamp and prairie west of the Broward County border will be opened to hunting and off-road vehicles, with part of the land protected as wilderness, under a plan announced Tuesday by the National Park Service.

The Addition Lands of Big Cypress National Preserve are among the most argued-over pieces of real estate in South Florida. Purchased from private owners and added to the preserve in 1988, the 230 square miles of territory straddle Alligator Alley and form a narrow strip next to State Road 29 in Collier County.
Hunters have argued for years that they have been unfairly and illegally shut out of the land, which is rich in deer and wild turkey.