Lighthouse Run Honors Black Bears of Virginia Key

Do it for the Black Bears that once roamed Virginia Key’s coastline raiding sea turtle nests. 

The mascot of the 33rd Annual Key Biscayne Lighthouse 10K/5K Run that takes places Saturday, Nov. 13 is the Florida Black Bear. 

Bear Cut, so-named for the bear, is the channel that separates the two barrier islands of Key Biscayne and Virginia Key. 

It’s believed both islands were once connected. Erosion and a powerful 1825 hurricane made the cut and hence, the need for the Bear Cut bridge. 

There’s still time to register for the race, which starts and ends at the Cape Florida Lighthouse in Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne. Go to the race website or Island Athletics store on Key Biscayne to register. 

Though the sea turtles are still with us on Virginia Key, its been awhile since anyone spotted a Black Bear in the vicinity. Today, the Florida Black Bear is on the threatened species list. 

Photo: Virginia Key's beaches are essential sea turtle nesting habitat. Bear Cut bridge in background.


@2010 All Rights Reserved by Blanca Mesa
Also on Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key 

Study: Looking into a National Park Visitor Center on Virginia Key.

With Biscayne National Park’s boundaries just outside Virginia Key, the National Park has long been eyeing the island and surrounding areas as locations for a new northern visitor center.

Sites that could be considered include the Miami Marine Stadium parking lot area, an area near Miami Seaquarium and Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne.

Bernadette Rabb, a graduate of the Florida Atlantic University’s College for Design and Social Inquiry in the Urban and Regional Planning Department, took on the issue in a recent planning project that explored the significance of this unique, (mostly underwater) 173,000-acre national park in our community and the challenges and opportunities of proposed sites in the Virginia Key area.

Rabb’s study has been shared with the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), the nonprofit National Parks advocacy group. The following multi-part series are excerpts from her paper:

An additional visitor’s center at the northern end of the park would benefit people in the Miami Dade area, including those who live in or visit the City of Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables and other surrounding communities. It would also attract those coming from Palm Beach and Broward County who would not consider driving down to the existing facility in Homestead.

Biscayne National Park is one of 392 national parks in our country. What makes it unique is that it contains 173,000 acres of mostly aquatic life with 96 percent of the park being water and the other 4 percent land. It is the largest marine park in the United States... It has an extensive mainland mangrove shoreline, is part of Biscayne Bay, and it contains the northernmost chain of coral keys in the United States with 20 miles of submerged coral reefs.

The issue at hand in 2010 is that the park encompassing a large area from just below Key Biscayne at the north end to Key Largo at the southernmost point has one visitor’s center located in Homestead, Florida. This location is 30 miles south of Miami. With the majority of the population and visitors being close to the Miami area, approximately 2 million people, it makes sense to have another access point to the park at the northern end.

This visitor’s center would provide a place of civic engagement, public education and general outreach to the public. Its purpose would be both informational and educational. It would also serve as a source of protection for the park’s many cultural, historical and natural resources by having a physical place for law enforcement. This structure would give enormous support to the proper management of Biscayne National Park.

Next in the series: what makes a good visitor’s center and what is offered at various sites under consideration.

Photo: Angelfish in Biscayne National Park waters. Courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey.
Resources:
Biscayne National Park: http://www.nps.gov/bisc
National Parks Conservation Association: http://www.npca.org/southflorida/

@All Rights Reserved 2010



Also on Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key

Green or Gritty

In the 1946 movie “It's a Wonderful Life” there are two visions of the future: charming small town of shade trees and friendly neighbors or the reviled Pottersville of drunkards and gamblers where garishness and poverty predominate.

Likewise - there are competing visions in Virginia Key’s future: public park greenery, preservation of cultural and historic sites and structures, harmony with nature. Or, marine industrial buildings, mega-marinas, commercial development of the public waterfront.

Or can both visions co-exist?

Absent clear design principles, core values or even a designated “program,” planning proposals unveiled for Virginia Key so far have attempted to mix it up, managing to satisfy no one in the process.

A fishing pier that looks like a Hollywood premiere. A marine-themed shopping center. An “organized” boat storage facility that rises five stories high and stretches the length of four-five football fields. And parking garages, lots of them and various stories high.

The public park amenities are vague and lacking in dedicated funding or management.

The commitment to restore, preserve and interpret the cultural and historic sites are tenuous, seemingly tied to extensive commercial development of surrounding public properties.

What should be so hard about creating a master plan for Virginia Key? The hard part is hard-wired and has been taken care of by mother nature: aqua-marine waters, sandy beaches, green forests filled with rare songbirds.

There’s even a model to go by: Cape Florida State Park. At the far end of Key Biscayne is one of the state’s most beautiful and popular state parks. Nature trails, fishing platforms, bike and boat rentals, a historic site, group campgrounds, excellent restaurants, a waterfront promenade and accessibility by land or water.

Now that’s a vision that would be truly wonderful.

Photos: Cape Florida State Park entrance to one of several nature trails, fishing platform overlooking Biscayne Bay, waterfront boardwalk and bicycle trail.

Resources:
More on “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the 1946 Frank Capra movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_a_Wonderful_Life

Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne: http://www.floridastateparks.org/capeflorida/
photo gallery: http://www.floridastateparks.org/capeflorida/PhotoGallery.cfm

2010 Copywright. @All Rights Reserved
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