HOLMES BEACH – Representatives from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) want to make sure that city leaders know what they’re getting into if they opt to take over mangrove regulation from the state agency.
Holmes Beach city leaders are considering partnering with Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach and Longboat Key officials to locally monitor and regulate mangrove trimming and removal under the authority of FDEP. Issues of unauthorized removal of mangroves, large-scale trimming and lot clearing have led local leaders to consider taking on the permitting and enforcement duties.
FDEP Environmental Administrator Hannah Westervelt visited city commissioners during a June 11 meeting to explain how mangroves are regulated by the state and what the limits of their power would be if commissioners opt to apply to take over regulations from the state.
Florida Statute 403.9321, the 1996 Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Act, states the intent for the government regulation – to protect mangroves from unregulated removal and destruction, protect uninhabited mangrove islands and conservation/preservation lands, give property owners a riparian right of view and encourage property owners to plant and maintain mangroves.
A lesser-known regulation that Westervelt stressed in her presentation is that the act doesn’t distinguish between living and dead mangroves, therefore it protects both and the same trimming and removal rules apply even if the tree is dead.
While she said that a local municipality can create a delegation to enforce mangrove protections and make their own rules regarding mangrove trimming and removal, they are limited by established exemptions, which they cannot change. Only state legislators can change the exemption qualifications for mangrove trimming, alteration and removal.
“There is the ability for local governments to apply and obtain the ability to regulate and enforce this act,” Westervelt said. To qualify, she said the local government must create a program, budget funds for running the program, and handle both permitting and compliance.
Exemptions are not required to have a permit from FDEP, Westervelt said, though they can have an exemption verification done if the work is questioned. She said all exempt trimming, defined by FDEP as “to cut mangrove branches, twigs, limbs and foliage; does not include roots; does not mean to remove defoliate or destroy the mangroves,” must occur only in a riparian mangrove fringe. The riparian mangrove fringe is where mangroves growing along a shoreline do not extend more than 50 feet waterward from the most landward mangrove trunk to the most waterward mangrove trunk.
Homeowner exemptions include trimming within the riparian mangrove fringe on land owned or controlled by the homeowner, including submerged land. Mangroves cannot exceed 10 feet tall before they are trimmed under an exemption, or be trimmed lower than 6 feet tall. All trimming should be done by a certified professional mangrove trimmer and within regulations determined by height and shoreline length. Any trimming or mangrove alteration that doesn’t fall within an established exemption should be discussed with the local governing authority before any work takes place to determine if the work can be legally done and if a permit is needed.
Westervelt also advised that anyone doing mangrove trimmings take before and after photos of the mangroves in case a question of a violation comes up when the mangroves are inspected. If a violation is found, she said both the owner and the person trimming the trees are liable and may be required to restore the mangroves or perform some kind of mitigation on the site.
Mangroves are protected in Florida due to the protection they provide for properties against erosion and flooding and their role as nurseries for sea life.
