M E M O R A N D U M
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Town Council
From: Roger Coriat, Council Member Seat 3
Date: June 17, 2020
Re: Adopting a Prohibited Species List
REQUEST
title
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF CUTLER BAY, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE TOWN MANAGER TO REMOVE PREVALENT INVASIVE EXOTIC PLANT SPECIES FROM TOWN OWNED PROPERTIES AND RIGHTS-OF-WAY, INCLUDING SAPLINGS AND SPROUTS; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE TOWN MANAGER TO CREATE A PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN AND SEEK GRANTS RELATING TO THE REMOVAL OF SUCH SPECIES; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
body.
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Invasive, non-indigenous plant species present serious threats to ecosystem community structure and function throughout South Florida. As such, controlling invasive species is cited as a critical resource management activity in the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Strategic Plan, 2012-2017. Successfully managing invasive species is also important to other strategic goals as their far-reaching effects must be considered during many SFWMD activities―from evaluating Environmental Resource Permits to managing the Everglades Stormwater Treatment Areas to restoring natural fire regimes.
According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, there are many reasons to be concerned about the expanding problem of invasive species. For example, approximately 46 percent of the Federally listed threatened and endangered species in the United States are imperiled in part due to impacts of invasive species. Economists have estimated that across the globe, $3-5 trillion may be lost annually to the impacts and management of invasive species (this figure includes impacts by introduced plants and animals, diseases, agricultural weeds and others).
The Town of Cutler Bay (the “Town”) is currently reviewing Article VII - Land and Tree Preservation as part of the Architectural and Landscape Moratorium. According to the Town’s Consultant (Calvin, Giordano and Associates, LLC.), it is recommended the Town adopt a Prohibited Species List as outlined in the current edition of the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (FEPPC) Invasive Plant List, specifically species listed as Category I and Category II (Attachment “A”).
• Category I invasive exotics are altering native plant communities by displacing native species, changing community structures or ecological functions, or hybridizing with natives. This definition does not rely on the economic severity or geographic range of the problem, but on the documented ecological damage caused
• Category II invasive exotics that have increased in abundance or frequency but have not yet altered Florida plant communities to the extent shown by Category I species. These species may become Category I if ecological damage is demonstrated
The FEPPC defines invasive plants as non-native plants (also referred to as exotic or alien) that have been introduced to an area from their native range, either purposefully or accidentally, outside of their range of natural dispersal. The invasive exotics that are most prevalent and have an extraordinary need to be removed within the Town are as follows:
• Acacia auriculiformis (earleaf acacia, sickle-leaf acacia);
• Jasminum fluminense (Brazilian Jasmine);
• Leucaena leucocephala (lead tree);
• Neyraudia reynaudiana (Burmareed);
• Pennisetium purpureum (elephantgrass, napiergrass); and
• Schinus terebinthifolius (Brazilian pepper).
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Town Council approve the attached Resolution, authorizing the Town Manager to remove Prevalent Invasive Exotic Plant Species from Town owned properties and rights-of-way, including saplings and sprouts. Furthermore, to create a Public Awareness Campaign to educate private property owners of the environmental harm the Prevalent Invasive Exotic Plant Species have if not managed and to seek grants relating to the removal of such Species. The authorizations granted by this Resolution are subject to budgeted funded.
ATTACHMENT(S)
Ø Attachment “A” - FEPPC 2019 List of Invasive Plant Species