The Great Cypress Swamp (also known as Burnt Swamp, Great Pocomoke Swamp, Cypress Swamp, or Big Cypress Swamp), is a forested freshwater swamp located on the Delmarva Peninsula in south Delaware and southeastern Maryland, United States. As of 2000, it is the largest contiguous forest on the Delmarva Peninsula.[1]
The swamp once yielded much cypress timber. Through overharvesting and a disastrous peat fire in 1930, much of its vegetation was destroyed. One of the fires burned for eight months, leading it to be deemed the "Burnt Swamp" by local residents.[2]
In 1980, Senator Joe Biden, at the request of environmentalists, proposed that the swamp be made into a National Park; this plan was met with resistance from local residents concerned about being overwhelmed with large numbers of visitors. When Senator Tom Carper revisited the idea of creating a national park in Delaware in 2004, the Cypress Swamp was not considered because of these concerns.[3]
^ abChristopher M. Heckscher (2000). "Forest-Dependent Birds of the Great Cypress (North pocomoke) Swamp: Species Composition and Implications for Conservation". Northeastern Naturalist. 7 (2): 113–130. JSTOR3858646.