Four environmental nonprofits have pooled $925,000 to protect and restore pine rocklands in Miami-Dade County, funding prescribed burns and invasive-species removal in the same ecosystem that runs through Palmetto Bay's Coral Reef Park.
The donation, announced Friday, goes to the county's Environmentally Endangered Lands Management Trust Fund. The Center for Biological Diversity, Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition, South Florida Wildlands Association and Tropical Audubon Society contributed the funds, which are earmarked for the management and acquisition of pine rocklands countywide.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the money will go directly to habitat stewardship. "The Pine Rocklands in our EEL preserves need frequent maintenance to keep invasive species from destroying rare and endangered plants and animals," Levine Cava said in the county's announcement. "This substantial gift will be dedicated to strengthening our stewardship of this irreplaceable habitat."
Loren Parra, DERM director and chief resilience officer, called the coalition's support essential to the department's restoration work.
Pine rocklands sit on the same limestone ridge that shapes Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay
Pine rocklands grow in a thin layer of sand over exposed oolitic limestone, the same Miami Rock Ridge formation that gives Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay their higher elevation relative to surrounding wetlands. Less than 2% of the original habitat remains in urban Miami-Dade outside Everglades National Park. The ecosystem once covered more than 186,000 acres stretching from what is now North Miami Beach south and west to the Everglades.
The habitat supports more than 400 native plants and at least 20 species protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, including the Miami tiger beetle, found nowhere else on Earth, the Florida bonneted bat and the Florida leafwing butterfly. Periodic fire is essential to the ecosystem's survival, clearing invasive hardwoods and allowing native species to regenerate.
Coral Reef Park's prescribed burn reflects the kind of work the new funding supports
Palmetto Bay scheduled a prescribed burn of the pine rockland at Coral Reef Park for July 14, after two weather delays from the original July 12 date, according to the village's updated notice. That burn is the same type of management the new funding is meant to expand across the county's EEL preserves.
The EEL Program manages more than 1,636 acres of pine rocklands countywide and has identified an additional 415 acres for potential acquisition, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. The program overall oversees more than 84 preserves covering 28,000 acres of native habitat.
County committee advanced the donation, but a final commission vote date remains unclear
The county's Recreation, Tourism, and Resiliency Committee forwarded the donation acceptance to the full Board of County Commissioners with a favorable recommendation on July 21, according to committee records. The county's July 24 release described the donation as accepted. The full commission vote date and tally were not included in the release or committee agenda.
Residents who want to learn more about the EEL Program can email [email protected] or call 305-372-6687. Palmetto Bay residents with questions about the Coral Reef Park pine rockland can contact Parks & Recreation at 305-259-1247.
