Florida State Senator Ileana Garcia has introduced SB 100, a bill that would require the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to adopt rules for mangrove replanting and restoration. Florida’s Mangrove Protect Rule 403.9324 has been severely weakened over the past years.
Unfortunately, SB 100 does little to reduce the significant loss of mangroves that is occurring around the state. SB 100 needs to be expanded. FDEP general permits for mangrove trimming are inadequate to protect our mangrove forests and need to be revised.
Trimming mangroves in either height or canopy cover reduces the mangroves’ ability to provide leaf detritus to aquatic environments and reduces the habitat provided by the trees to fish and wildlife. The loss of lateral limbs or canopy dramatically affects the ability of trimmed mangroves to survive.
Manatee and Sarasota County have designated many mangrove areas as conservation or preservation. FDEP can still issue permits to trim in these areas which then allow adjacent property owners to create a view of the water.
FDEP needs to revise its current mangrove tree permitting requirements to avoid the wholesale destruction of mangroves.
As we have seen in our area, property owners have abused and continue to abuse mangrove trimming exemptions on a large scale, by converting native lands and clear-cutting trees in anticipation of future commercial and residential development.
Enforcement of the Mangrove Tree Protection Rule should be done to the fullest extent possible; this will discourage the large-scale destruction of existing valuable trees.
SB 100 does not provide the FDEP with the necessary funding to administer and enforce the Mangrove Protect Rule. Provisions to further protect mangrove intertidal areas owned by the State must be developed.
FDEP’s enforcement capabilities need to be increased. It is extremely doubtful that we can depend on FDEP to do the job of protecting the remaining mangrove habitat with the limited enforcement staff they have. The Mangrove Protection Rule must be fortified with increased FDEP staffing, enforcement capabilities, and development rules to protect mangrove intertidal areas.
Glenn Compton is the Chairman of ManaSota 88, a non-profit organization that has spent over 30 years fighting to protect the environment of Manatee and Sarasota counties.
Comments
No comments on this item
Only paid subscribers can comment
Please log in to comment by clicking here.