Trees to be removed from Kennedy Park?
There is a sign at Kennedy Park today stating that 945 "invasive trees" will be removed from the park soon. The trees in question are in the mangrove area. Are there even 945 trees in that area?
Hopefully the guys doing the cutting know that the mangroves are not part of the tree removal. I shudder to think what the finished product will look like. They are supposed to just remove Washington palms and Australian pines.
Hopefully the guys doing the cutting know that the mangroves are not part of the tree removal. I shudder to think what the finished product will look like. They are supposed to just remove Washington palms and Australian pines.
posted by Tom Falco at 3:32 PM
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20 Comments:
Well, there are probably too many Mangroves at Kennedy park if you want to see more of the water. (ALMOST TOTALLY BLOCKED THERE TOO)There are 3 types, "Red White and Black" Mangroves, (read that outside at Shake'a'Leg) their roots and foliage can help clean the water a bit, protect from erosion some, and help some fish and wild life. They are a non invasive species, indigenous to South Fla, I think.
HOWEVER, if you go to Kennedy Park, you'll notice that we can barely see any Water, blocked by Mangroves everywhere, and usually with quite a bit of trash. There a rocks and trees all over, I am not sure how these particular Mangroves in this Park are beneficial to an ecosystem full of bouts and well protected historically from erosion.
And we could SURE use more glimpses of the water in that park and everywhere around Bayshore Drive.
If they start chopping down Australian Pine tress and other non Indigenous trees, well they should replace them by nice local trees..
But I'd say chop down some Mangroves, they are rather ugly if you ask me and block the Waterviews on this small Kennedy Park only..
Am I wrong? Any opinions?
Here's an article, but that's not our situation at Kennedy Park:
http://www.abettersouthflorida.org/VirginiaKey.html
Why not opening up the Bayshore as much as possible if it's safe, clear up some Mangroves there so we can all enjoy the beautiful waterviews.
As you are walking around Kennedy park you will see trees with an orange spray painted "X". Those are the trees that will be removed.
They used the same method when they created the traffic calming device on Tigertail recently.
Who cares if the trees aren't indigenous. Those pines have been there for decades, withstood hurricane force winds and provide habitat for wildlife. I just do not understand why man has to "take charge" and govern what does not need governing.
Those trees by the water provide a peaceful and beautiful shaded area. They also add visual diversity to that area of the park, which perfectly complement the palms.
What a shame. I wish we would learn to live in harmony with our environment.
If all non-indigenous species were truly eradicated in South Florida our population would be decimated save the few remaining native American Indian tribes. It's a stupid philosophy that needs to be re-addressed.
Well, according to Liliana Dones, a tree is a "tree" from the moment it first sprouts out of the ground.
I hope that the city's permits are in order.
actually those native American tribes are also non-indigenous. None the less, the Australian pines, especially by the water look awful. They are permanently bent from the last hurricane.
There are many reasons to be aware of and eradicate invasive non-indigenous species, here are just a few:
http://www.gcrio.org/CONSEQUENCES/vol2no2/article2.html
http://www.abettersouthflorida.org/VirginiaKey.html
I say remove the dog park, an obstruction of the water, an eyesore and health hazard.
I say transplant the mangroves and save the Expo Center. We can't see the water for the mangroves at Kennedy and at Peacock. What a view that would be. I heard recently they were adding more mangrove shoots or sprouts or whatever they are called so there would be more mangroves. Let's move the mangroves.
Those Australian Pines are invasive trees that don't belong... they block out the light for the other native species. Their removal has my full support!
Mangroves are endangered in the state. You cant just cut them down. They are also essential to coastal marine life because they serve as a nursery for fish and other marine life. The last thing we should be doing is cutting them down. If anything we should be planting more.
If you want a view of the water knock down some of the man-made obstacles lining 95% of our coastline.
as for the trees being removed the Australian pines are ugly and most by the water are almost bent at a 90 degree angle from the wind. I don't have as much problem with things being exotic as they are invasive. I actually think it might be cool to ask fairchilds to donate some tree species to the park. It could be its own smaller botanical garden. Miami has a unique climate and therefore we can experience many tree and shrub species which cannot be grown anywhere else in the US. Plus they have the expertise to know the growing habits to ensure nothing is invasive. I would love to see a big baobob tree in the park.
I just spent a good hour walking through Kennedy Park. The Public works department will rightfully remove over 900 plants, a few some Australian Pines, bust mostly the Brazilian Bush and about 5 more prohibited types of UGLY shrubs, very invasive and blocking some small views.
I agree and have read quite bit about the beneficial aspects og local Mangroves.
However, I reiterate my opinion that in a few selected areas of the Kennedy Park they should be trimmed and a few transplanted, like they did East of the Dog play ground and at a tiny spot before the Wood board walk, by the water next to the Australian Pines.
This little trimming and or relocation of Mangrove who open-up a few key areas of the park to AWESOME little Waterviews, ten feet long here and there (3 or 4 spots by the Water only.
There are so view places to enjoy the Water, even on Kennedy Park, let alone our entire Bay Shore.
I doubt moving or trimming afew Mangroves would have any considerable ecological effect, whatsover. Marine life, plants and fish there have PLENTY of space if you look at the 5 front Islands, full of Mangroves and take a Kayak or Boat and paddle from Peacock Park to Virginia key. The entire Coconut Grove Bay side has PLENTY of Mangroves all over. All we want is a couple nice open spaces to enjoy the water from the Park.
Look at what the did at a small area on Alice Wainright Park.
It's full of trees, and has one of the few Nice Water Views of ANY park in the Grove.
A bunch of new trees have just been planted in the Home Depot parking lot. Could this have been part of the settlement?
The removal of mangroves in order to enhance a view is misguided. The mangroves play an essential ecological role in supporting the marine and estuarine communities of Biscayne Bay. Development along the Bay has removed miles of mangrove coastline that continues to impact the Bay detrimentally. As suggested, we should be actively replanting the mangroves in an effort to mitigate the damage and attempt to resuscitate marine and estuarine life in the Bay. The desire for views is appreciated and shared but, as a community, we would be better served to leave the mangroves untouched and alternatively install boardwalks (similar to those already in place at Kennedy and Peacock parks) and piers to allow people to walk along the water and to launch canoes and kayaks to enjoy a day on the Bay. The suggestion that there is PLENTY of space for the marine life and PLENTY of mangroves illustrates the ignorance of many in our community as to the impact of development on the environment. Much of the damage to the Bay is irreparable but some of the damage much can be repaired with proactive policies and solutions. The goal is to be in harmony with our natural environment and to minimize our footprint and impact where ever possible. We are learning gradually that we can't dump our sewage and trash in the Bay. That dredging the bay and cutting down the trees along the shoreline has resulted in silting, turbidity and runoff that have choked off marine life in the Bay. We need to be stewards of the environment and ask first what the impact of our decisions is. Views are great but in my opinion secondary to the health of the environment and Bay. Cutting down the mangroves is not the solution.
This last post doesn't make ANY sense:
"The desire for views is appreciated and shared but, as a community, we would be better served to leave the mangroves untouched and alternatively install boardwalks (similar to those already in place at Kennedy and Peacock parks).
So, our only chance for a little sight of the Water is through Artificial Boardwalks (love'em though) for a few feet? The rest all covered up with Mangroves, and ESPECIALLY BUILDINGS?
You've got to be kidding. In Kennedy Park and Peacock Park is that all we get. There ARE Mangroves everywhere where there aren't other invasive Species or invasive Buildings, polluting. 10 feet more of clear Water here of there at Kennedy Park will NOT cause a DENT in the environment, look at the larger Picture. Get out on a kayak and look at the Mangrove Coast line, or Building coastline, the Islands in front..
Ridiculous, sorry, and this is from a Sierra avid conservationist who participates on cleanups.
With all due respect to the last post and your Sierra credentials, as you have stated "There ARE Mangroves everywhere where there aren't other invasive Species or invasive Buildings, polluting". The problem with your premise is that the majority of the coastline along Biscayne Bay has been developed and the indigenous mangrove estuaries have been destroyed and replaced with concrete seawalls - the entire north portion of the Bay (except for the extreme north end next to FIU & Oletta Park), the entire length of the Miami River, large swaths of coastline of the south Bay from Downtown to the Gables. I do not desire to quibble but it is important to establish the valuable role that mangroves have in the Biscayne Bay ecosystem. The caviler attitude of many of our elected officials and much of our population relative to this point is the concern and comments such as "10 feet more of clear Water here of there at Kennedy Park will NOT cause a DENT in the environment". This is the same type of statement that every developer makes when it comes to cutting or removing the mangrove in front of their waterfront property, regardless of the fact that those mangroves have been there for the past 500 years and certainly before they purchased the property. They all take the risk knowing that they can likely persuade the elected or municipal official that 10 or 30 feet don't matter in the "larger Picture". And if they don't get the approval they're looking for they just cut them down and assert that there was a "miscommunication" with their workers and that they shouldn’t have removed them at all. The problem with the previous post is that we have been chipping away at the mangrove coastline 10 feet at a time for the past 100 years and the harmful impact on our the environment is clear and evident. Rather than cut them down, let's celebrate them. Cleanup the dead undergrowth and trash, prune them up if it can be done with out harming the trees, put up-lighting along the shoreline to enhance the dramatic beauty of these native trees at night, use them as a living classroom for our local schools to teach about the beneficial/indispensable role of these trees in the Bay ecosystem, but do not cut them down - not 1 foot nor 10 feet. It's a dangerous proposition because there will always be a clever developer or attorney ready to suggest that if we can do it at Kennedy Park, then why not in front of their client's property, etc. Let's get together as a community to see what we can do to arrive at a compromise that provides visual and physical access to the Bay but nurtures and protects the mangroves. Hopefully, my comments are not viewed as “Ridiculous” but rather as an alternative the status quo. Any further discussion or suggestions can be directed to my email ecologydesign1@gmail.com.
Ecologydesign, I understand your perspective on this. But we are talking about public property: Park Management for which the City (Public Works department)is responsible.
If individuals break the law chopping down Mangroves or any trees near their properties, they should be punished with heavy fines (as I suggested, a painful % of the value of the project/property, not a laughable little slap in the wrist)
But when it comes to Parks, and the WaterFront Management, WE should be in a position to vote for a few more spots with a Waterview, NOTABLY on Kennedy Park.
Alice Wainwright Park has a great view, Peacock Park only has a Boardwalk, but it's a small park with little water the the East.
Kennedy Park's views are mostly blocked by Mangroves and other indigenous or prohibited invasive vegetation.
For all of the people who visit that Park, by FAR the most visited in our area, we should consider opening up a few more space of Waterviews, notably: a little more Water View by the Dog Place, some more on the other side of the Boardwalk, (they already opened up a small little place most people don't even notice behind the pines), but especially on that side toward the entrance /drinking fountain. Just a couple of water glimpses. And we should clean up those areas, volunteers, like we cleaned up the shoreline last Saturday all the way in between the 2 Rickenbacker bridges, with volunteers.
Very few mangroves would have to be TRANSPLANTED elsewhere, around the corner of Kennedy Park, or trimmed down a bit. Very very few, compared to the vast population you can see from a boat. And the overall beauty of this Public Park would be tremendously enhanced, for sure!
That's up to the people and the City, a calculated decision for this particular Public Park. Then let's plant Mangroves everywhere else possible where they were before, get rid of the invasive species, like we are doing in Virginia Key:
http://florida.sierraclub.org/Miami/cons_virginia.htm
http://www.abettersouthflorida.org/Revive.htm
Mr. Iglesia must not be a Florida native. I have personally witnessed the extent to which mangrove restoration improves water quality, and whole-heartedly support restrictions on mangrove cutting.
I do think that there is room for compromise, though. In Pinellas county, property owners are permitted to trim mangroves to height of no less than six feet. This allows a decent view from your back porch without harming the most important part of the tree -- the root system.
Mr Slwip, whether I'm a Florida Native person or not is perfectly irrelevant here: knowing about the environment and Mangroves is a matter of education and conservation sensibility. (but if you must know, I've lived in Miami almost 20 years now).
Many of us are rather well-informed about the beneficial aspects of Mangroves, I even posted several links right here with scientific details about them, and their ecological role in Fla. I've volunteered in Virginia Key and helped planting or transplanting many Mangroves myself with Sierra club friends. ---(BTW, you do know there are many, many species of Mangroves worldwide, not Just the 3 main species, Black, White and Red found in Fla, and elsewhere, right?)
The point you seem to miss is that ALL I'm saying is Trim or move a few Mangroves in a couple strategic spots of Kennedy Park to improve the views. Maybe extract and transplant nearby no more than 10 mangroves in total, to open up 2 small, delightful views. (How often do you visit Kennedy Park? I've been jogging there every other day for about 3 years, and live in the same block on Bayshore Dr)
If any, the impact on the environment of such minuscule relocation is negligible, compared to the tremendous improvement of the appearance of our Park, for everyone's enjoyment.
HO HUM.
JUST LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE.
Well Carlos,
I and most other competent marine scientists think your wrong. Cutting mangroves so you can have a view of the water is ridiculous. And they not only are essential to the ecosystem the also serve to protect the land so that in the next storm we don't lose the whole park to erosion. Why don't you go complain to the blocks and blocks and blocks of homes just north of the park which not only block the view, but block public access and are destined to end up in the ocean next time a major hurricane hits and tell them to open up some view??? Those mangroves and the ones down by peacock park are some of the last populations in our area. Leave them alone.
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