In the dense cypress swamp west of Boynton Beach, a ranger points at a bare cypress tree trunk once dotted with rare bromeliads. Poachers pluck the spiky air plants from trees at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, and there aren't enough rangers to catch all the thieves.
It's frustrating, said U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service ranger William Calvert. Poachers are among the biggest threats clearing the park of these native plants.
Each can bring poachers $15 to $20 in the local black market, depending on its rarity, he said.
"It's like the drug trade," Calvert said as he walked along the wooden boardwalk trail. "As long as people want these things, they're going to get them."
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