Volunteer in the New Year on Virginia Key

Volunteers have replanted native species throughout the island.

Resolved: in the new year to do something for nature on Virginia Key

Go ahead, make Virginia Key part of your New Year’s resolutions and join the community effort to protect and preserve one of our community’s natural jewels.

Here are  some of the volunteer organizations working to restore the natural environment on Virginia Key and throughout South Florida:

Urban Paradise Guild.
www.urban-paradise.org
“Our mission is to re-create native habitats in the Urban areas of Miami-Dade County, and to promote sustainable models for healthy living that safeguard, enhance and integrate the human and natural worlds for the benefit of both.”

Tropical Audubon Society
www.tropicalaudubon.org
“We believe in the wisdom of nature's design. We seek to foster and promote ecological conscientiousness in our community.”

Sierra Club, Miami Group
http://florida.sierraclub.org/miami/
"Our mission is to enjoy and protect the natural places in South Florida, to teach others to understand and respect the fragile environment in which we live, and to practice and promote the responsible use of South Florida's ecosystems and resources."

Citizens for a Better South Florida
www.abettersouthlflorida.org
“Citizens is dedicated to providing environmental education, particularly to the under-served community, that inspires active stewardship and preservation of the South Florida environment.”

TREEmendous Miami
www.treemendousmiami.org
“TREEmendous Miami consists of a dedicated group of people who like to plant trees so that we can make Miami-Dade a greener, cooler, healthier and more enjoyable environment in which to live. Our environment is our number one concern.”

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Also on Facebook, join Friends of Virginia Key for updates and event info.

Gulf Oil Crisis Response: Beach Rally, Photo Project

If the Gulf of Mexico oil spill were to enter the Gulf “loop current” Virginia Key, with its vast expanse of wetlands, marshes and mangrove forests and sea-turtle nesting beaches, would be severely impacted.

Though the oil is now more than 80 miles away from the Gulf loop current, changes in wind and weather patterns could bring the oil to the Florida Keys and around to Miami Dade's beaches and barrier islands. The oil rig site is discharging approximately 210,000 gallons a day for a total estimated output of 3.5 million gallons already spilled into the Gulf. Fishing grounds throughout the region have been closed.

Everglades and Biscayne National Parks are bracing for the impact, already documenting conditions pre-oil spill.

Average citizens are also taking action in the wake of this unprecedented environmental catastrophe. Some are documenting current conditions through photos of shorelines and beaches. Others are holding events calling for an end to off-shore oil drilling.

THINGS TO DO NOW:
Rally: Miami-Dade County Says “No to Off Shore Drilling” Rally took place May 11 on Miami Beach where several hundred participated.

Photo Project: Tropical Seike is collecting photos of shorelines to document existing conditions. The photo-baseline project will collect images of our beaches, estauries, and harbors before and after the BP-Deepwater Horizon oil/tar arrives. Include the name of the specific site and date. The project site is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tropical-Selkie-gathering-the-ocean-tribes/231034041891?ref=mf

Resources:
http://miami-dade.ifas.ufl.edu/environment/sea_grant_oilspill.shtml
http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/oilspill/

Environmentally Endangered Lands Report: Critical Habitats of Virginia Key

A new biological evaluation of Virginia Key just released by Miami-Dade County’s Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program documents the barrier island contains some of Miami-Dade County’s last remaining critical habitats.

Plant communities on the island include seagrass beds, sand and mud flats, mangrove and herbaceous wetlands, beach dunes and coastal maritime hammock.  Of the approximately 1,300 acres, submerged lands constitute 900 acres, coastal wetlands 235 acres, dunes 12 acres, maritime hammock 28 acres with an additional 7 acres of reforested maritime hammock reclaimed from previously disturbed areas.

Key findings of the biological evaluation show:
-Freshwater wetlands are “one of the last wetland/beach ecotones remaining in Miami Dade County.” (The only other wetland/beach ecotone of this kind within the County is located at the Bear Cut Preserve on Key Biscayne).
-A 13-acre maritime hammock forest at the center of the island is the “best example of this forest type” in Miami-Dade County, where many plant and animal species are listed as rare or endangered. The forest is a vital resource for wildlife species, including rare, migrating songbirds that travel down the Atlantic coast. 
-Beaches and dunes on Virginia Key, including essential sea-turtle nesting areas frequented by loggerhead and green sea turtles, comprise a “significant amount” of this type of community in Miami-Dade County.
-The Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Area (CWA), a 700-acre state-designated refuge with “extraordinary habitat values” that contains the island’s largest remaining portion of unaltered mangrove forest and largest amount of unaltered, submerged land, is an important undisturbed spawning area for many species of fish and invertebrates.  The diversity of bird species in the refuge is well-documented and includes at least a dozen species of raptors - American kestral and ospreys among them. Ospreys, eagles and falcons are a common site, particularly during migration times. 
-The waters surrounding Virginia Key, bordered on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the west by Biscayne Bay, are used by manatees for feeding, resting, mating, traveling and calving. (Atlantic bottlenose dolphins also use the water.)

The evaluation was completed as part of an application filed by The Sierra Club Miami Group, Tropical Audubon Society and Izaak Walton League South Florida Chapter last year seeking protection of vulnerable environmental lands on the island.

The Miami Dade County EEL program was created in 1990 to acquire, restore and maintain environmentally significant lands in our community. The program is voluntary and inclusion of any of Virginia Key’s natural areas in the program would have to be approved by Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami.

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On Facebook: join Friends of Virginia Key

What a “Green” Master Plan Looks Like: Trails, Public Beaches, More Trails

During the five years of “master planning” for Virginia Key, there was lots of talk of creating a “green” plan for the island. But doubts set in after one early proposal showed 11 parking garages.

The inclusion of “bioswales,” “green roofs” and “green recreational opportunities” didn’t do much to sway a skeptical public from the impression that the plan contained a tad too much concrete.

A June 2009 Miami Herald editorial summed it up this way:

Residents don't want to tart up Virginia Key with retail complexes and parking garages. They want a beautiful place to play and relax....A place to walk through nature preserves, hang out at the beach or take the family on a spin along a biking trail.

That eco-friendly vision might come to fruition first in the North Point. Miami-Dade Environmental Resources Management restoration expert Gary Milano (with input of Tropical Audubon Society, the Sierra Club Miami Group and Urban Paradise Guild) has just submitted to City officials a “green” blueprint for the North Point.

The proposed plan protects restored natural areas while carving out space for biking trails, beachside picnics and solitary strolls through hammocks and alongside dunes and marshes.

The proposal, which includes a primitive camping area, reflects public consensus culled from many several well-attended public planning charrettes on the island dating back to 2007.

It's what a "green" master plan should look like. Let's hope the City agrees.

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On Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key