Palmetto Bay residents near Coral Reef Park should expect visible smoke Tuesday after the village postponed a planned prescribed burn of the park's pine rockland habitat by two days.
The Village of Palmetto Bay announced Sunday that unfavorable site conditions from recent rainfall forced the delay.
The village said it will continue to assess conditions ahead of Tuesday and will notify residents if plans change again.
Second Postponement This Summer
This marks at least the second time the burn has been pushed back. A previous attempt scheduled for July 2 was called off due to wildfires burning elsewhere in the area, according to a village Facebook post.
Village manager reports show the burn has been in planning since at least January, with the village consulting Miami-Dade County's Division of Natural Areas Management on readiness and timeline. By June, the village had received three proposals for the work.
Why Burn a Park?
Pine rocklands are a fire-dependent ecosystem. Without regular burns every two to 10 years, hardwood species invade and shade out native plants, and dead vegetation piles up, making future fires hotter and harder to control.
The Coral Reef Park parcel is one of the few remaining pine rockland fragments in Miami-Dade County. Only about 2% of the county's original pine rockland acreage survives outside Everglades National Park, according to habitat surveys. Most remaining parcels sit surrounded by homes and businesses.
Christian Fernandez, a Southern Fire Exchange outreach specialist, said at a June workshop that "Miami's natural resource managers are challenged to restore prescribed fire to natural areas that have faced decades of fuel accumulation and are deeply embedded in human communities."
The habitat supports 23 federally protected species, including the Miami tiger beetle, found nowhere else on Earth, and the Florida bonneted bat.
How to Stay Informed
The village said it will provide advance notice of any further schedule changes. Residents can monitor updates on the Village of Palmetto Bay website and its official Facebook page.
