I know it is Christmas Eve and I should find something uplifting for our readers enjoying a few days off from the daily Miami grind, but what I do to enjoy early morning hours away from the daily Miami grind is go to "one of the few remaining open spaces in the county that offers easy access and largely unspoiled natural habitat": Matheson Hammock Park. The wooded paths are one of the very last public places in Miami-Dade to view the oolite limestone formation, of ancient coral reefs, demonstrating the porous rock type that makes building sea walls against sea level rise an impossibility.
I've been walking my dogs at Matheson Hammock Park for more than fifteen years and writing about Florida's fragile environment even longer. When I began, the park was scarcely maintained, and although it was covered in kudzu then, it was a faded and glorious relic of a time when fresh water from the Everglades coursed through the coastal ridge to nearby Biscayne Bay. No one cared who walked their dogs or where they parked.
That began to change when some very wealthy and loud residents on the north side of the park started agitating for more control of who could access the park and by what streets. A guard house was erected, that makes absolutely no sense, and still the same homeowners are complaining about the public -- dog owners!, birders!, people trying to find a quiet place in a semblance of nature! Gradually, the parks department began investing more human resources in scraping down the kudzu, encouraging native flora, and in a way this began to worry me because there is no "improvement" of public spaces in Miami that doesn't come with some economic benefit to private interests.
Now the County is planning an "upgrade" at Matheson Hammock Park. Grant Miller, publisher of Community Newspapers, writes:
Stop the Matheson Hammock Park land grab
Grant Miller,
Community Newspapers/ Publisher
Matheson Hammock Park’s 630 acres comprise one of the few remaining open spaces in the county that offer easy access and largely unspoiled natural habitat.
Miami-Dade County is planning an update and upgrade for this jewel of a park, which dates to 1930. The county’s stated goals are to protect and enhance the park’s natural and historical resources, anticipate sea level rise, and increase overall accessibility. That’s commendable.
But, this being Miami, a handful of wealthy homeowners are pushing a plan essentially to annex and privatize the western part of Matheson Hammock. If successful, the homeowners in Hammock Lakes would have a signature public park mostly to themselves.
This west area of Matheson Hammock usually is referred to as either “the Matheson nursery” or as “the dog park.” The county has used a portion as a nursery for decades. Generations of dog owners — and hikers, bikers, bird watchers and picnickers — have enjoyed the park’s fields and wooded trails.
I've been walking my dogs at Matheson Hammock Park for more than fifteen years and writing about Florida's fragile environment even longer. When I began, the park was scarcely maintained, and although it was covered in kudzu then, it was a faded and glorious relic of a time when fresh water from the Everglades coursed through the coastal ridge to nearby Biscayne Bay. No one cared who walked their dogs or where they parked.
That began to change when some very wealthy and loud residents on the north side of the park started agitating for more control of who could access the park and by what streets. A guard house was erected, that makes absolutely no sense, and still the same homeowners are complaining about the public -- dog owners!, birders!, people trying to find a quiet place in a semblance of nature! Gradually, the parks department began investing more human resources in scraping down the kudzu, encouraging native flora, and in a way this began to worry me because there is no "improvement" of public spaces in Miami that doesn't come with some economic benefit to private interests.
Now the County is planning an "upgrade" at Matheson Hammock Park. Grant Miller, publisher of Community Newspapers, writes:
Miami-Dade County is planning an update and upgrade for this jewel of a park, which dates to 1930. The county’s stated goals are to protect and enhance the park’s natural and historical resources, anticipate sea level rise, and increase overall accessibility. That’s commendable. But, this being Miami, a handful of wealthy homeowners are pushing a plan essentially to annex and privatize the western part of Matheson Hammock. If successful, the homeowners in Hammock Lakes would have a signature public park mostly to themselves.Send some good cheer this Christmas to County Commissioner Xavier Suarez and Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez: tell them to keep their hands off Matheson Hammock Park and any further restrictions to access.
Stop the Matheson Hammock Park land grab
Grant Miller,
Community Newspapers/ Publisher
Matheson Hammock Park’s 630 acres comprise one of the few remaining open spaces in the county that offer easy access and largely unspoiled natural habitat.
Miami-Dade County is planning an update and upgrade for this jewel of a park, which dates to 1930. The county’s stated goals are to protect and enhance the park’s natural and historical resources, anticipate sea level rise, and increase overall accessibility. That’s commendable.
But, this being Miami, a handful of wealthy homeowners are pushing a plan essentially to annex and privatize the western part of Matheson Hammock. If successful, the homeowners in Hammock Lakes would have a signature public park mostly to themselves.
This west area of Matheson Hammock usually is referred to as either “the Matheson nursery” or as “the dog park.” The county has used a portion as a nursery for decades. Generations of dog owners — and hikers, bikers, bird watchers and picnickers — have enjoyed the park’s fields and wooded trails.
