The most famous property managed by the federal government in Florida is Everglades National Park, authorized in 1934. Encompassing nearly 1.4 million acres, including 625,000 acres of water, it is the largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the coterminousÊUnitedÊStates. In 1968 a large part (173,000 acres) of Biscayne Bay was designated a national park. The park protects interrelated marine systems, including mangrove shoreline, subtropical keys, and tropical coral reefs. Four national forests in the state are managed jointly by the federal and state governments, and are used for recreation and hunting, as well as for the harvest of trees. Other federal lands open for recreational use include Canaveral and Gulf Islands national seashores, Big Cypress National Preserve, and Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve, authorized in 1988.
