New seeds may have been planted in island officials’ discussions about reclaiming authority of mangrove enforcement from the state.
Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key officials gathered April 17 for a Coalition of Barrier Island Elected Officials meeting to discuss mangrove regulation and enforcement across the four municipalities.
Mangroves provide environmental benefits, such as offering a unique ecosystem for marine life, decreasing land erosion and improving nearshore water quality.
Trimming and removal of the vegetation is regulated by state law and enforced by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
However, the DEP can delegate authority over mangroves to qualified local governments and municipalities, effectively handing off the regulation and enforcement of mangroves.
Only seven local governments across the state have been delegated such authority, including Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Sarasota counties, as well as the town of Juniper Island and the city of Sanibel.
Some island officials have been calling for the barrier island municipalities to explore taking the same authority following the December 2023 removal of more than 100 feet of shoreline mangroves at 111 Gull Drive, Anna Maria.
The CBIEO consists of representatives from Anna Maria Island’s three cities and the town of Longboat Key.
Attendees of the April 17 meeting included Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy, Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie, Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth and Longboat Key Mayor Ken Schneier and town manager Howard Tipton.
Abbey Tyrna, executive director of Sarasota-based Suncoast Waterkeeper, also attended the meeting and provided an educational presentation on mangroves.
She stressed the importance of preserving mangroves due to their unique ecological value in the face of modern threats from development.
Tyrna said about 50% of the country’s wetlands had been lost between 2009 and 2019 and what remains hangs in peril. She said Suncoast Waterkeeper had received reports of at least 18 violations of over-trimming or removing mangroves over the past year alone.
She added that the state had inadequately addressed many of those violations.
Tyrna said local authorities could better preserve mangroves within their municipalities by reclaiming authority from the state and implementing more restrictive measures.
State law provides, “A delegated local government may impose stricter substantive standards than those of the department for the issuance of a permit authorized by this section; however, such regulations may not prohibit all mangrove trimming.”
But there are restrictions to what can be done and delegated local governments “may not directly or indirectly limit the use of exemptions in Sec. 403.9326.”
Tyrna highlighted how state law allows for the largely unmitigated removal of mangroves along canal systems but Sarasota County restricts such activity.
“Any mangrove along a canal system can be removed,” Tyrna said. “(Sarasota County) doesn’t allow mangroves to be removed along canals and, if they are, they have to be mitigated for or offset.”
“Now, more than ever, we need strong local policies that protect our native wetland systems,” she added.
Murphy said that the city of Anna Maria may be interested in seeking the DEP’s delegation of authority over mangroves cooperatively with the other island governments and CBIEO.
He argued the DEP was spread too thin and the local governments could better regulate and enforce mangrove trimming and removal activities.
“The scalping is not going to stop. It’s going to continue until we do something about it,” Murphy said.
Tipton said Longboat Key did not have the resources to handle the work, but they might be able to get the job done with a cooperative effort.
He said the town also had invited a DEP representative to visit the town to discuss the matter.
CBIEO members said they would continue discussing mangrove regulation and enforcement at the board’s future meetings.
Anna Maria Commissioner Charlie Salem, who attended the meeting, told The Islander April 17 that he left feeling “super encouraged” by the presentation.
He said that, heading into the meeting, one of the main concerns was whether a delegated local government could only uphold state law, or if it could craft its own regulations.
“I was getting kind of mixed signals about if there was more authority we could get from this or not,” Salem said. “I’d like to find out in more detail what Sarasota was able to do. … But it sounds like, on some level, that this allows you to go further and tailor it more to the needs of your community, which would be great.”
The next CBIEO meeting was not scheduled as of April 19.