From Adversity to Diversity: The Cape Florida Project
In the early hours of August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew swept across the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, making landfall in rural Homestead, Florida. The Category 5 hurricane had sustained winds of 165 mph, with gusts reaching more than 200 mph. Consider
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From Adversity to Diversity: The Cape Florida Project Kellie Westervelt
In the early hours of August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew swept across the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, making landfall in rural Homestead, Florida. The Category 5 hurricane had sustained winds of 165 mph, with gusts reaching more than 200 mph. Considered at the time to be the costliest hurricane in U.S. history, the winds of the storm altered the face of South Florida overnight, scouring the landscape and leaving homes, infrastructure, and livelihoods destroyed in its wake (Landsea et al. 2004). Hurricane Andrew’s impact on South Florida was immediate and traumatic, but in at least one case, it was also beneficial. The eye of the storm passed fourteen miles south of Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, leveling its 436-acre Australian pine (Casuarina equisetifolia) forest. Although a popular park in the community, Cape Florida was a natural disaster long before Hurricane Andrew. Australian pines and an assortment of other invasive species had overrun the park’s natural communities. In one fell swoop, the storm destroyed 98 percent of the park’s exotic tree canopy—a task that resource managers had been trying to accomplish for some time (fig. 3.1). Hurricane Andrew set the stage for an ecological restoration project that would engage the community for years to come. This chapter explores the long-standing relationship between Cape Florida and the greater Miami-Dade community. It discusses the challenges faced in restoration planning, funding, and execution in a highly publicized and politicized process, and reviews the variety of programs used to involve a diverse, multicultural volunteer pool in the restoration project. Finally, it shows the results achieved through community support and perseverance, and the power of connecting people to place.
A History of Community Activism Cape Florida State Park is located on the tip of Key Biscayne, the southernmost coastal barrier island on the eastern seaboard of the United States. It is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and Biscayne Bay to the west. Just seven miles south of downtown Miami, it was a very popular park, known for its historic lighthouse and D. Egan (eds.), Human Dimensions of Ecological Restoration: Integrating Science, Nature, and Culture, 39 The Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration, DOI 10.5822/978-1-61091-039-2_3, © Island Press 2011
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participation: volunteers
Figure 3.1. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 hurricane, caused extensive damage at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. Fortunately, the hurricane destroyed a stand of exotic Australian pine (Casaurina equisetifolia), providing the opportunity for ecological restoration.
picturesque beach dunes. A favorite destination among tourists and residents, Cape Florida’s popularity predated its status as a state park, drawing local residents and passing boaters to its shores even while in private hands. In the 1950s, when a proposal for a housing development threatened to alter access to Cape Florida
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