In 2020, Miami-Dade County Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) purchased a 15 acre parcel of pine rockland, consisting of a globally endangered ecosystem, and is now known as the Calderon Pineland.

Before any restoration could be performed, the topsoil overburden (imported for agricultural purposes) was removed along the northwest and northern edges of the parcel, stripping it down to the bare limestone (see pictures below).

Hardwood Reduction and Controlled Burn

Below are some photos from the wood reduction project at Calderon Pineland. In one day, 40 trees were brought down and one more day of picking up the larger hardwood stems and leaving the finer fuel was to follow. A walk through with the fire chief was performed, and the crews were to start in two weeks on strategic fire prep for the northern 5 acres. Once it dried down and there was the right wind conditions, a burn on the ground was performed. This is great work!

Also removed was quite a load of Melinis within the western restoration block during the volunteer event on Saturday.

Before Hardwood Reduction

Pile of cut Hardwood

After Hardwood Reduction

**Removal of Melinis, an invasive grass.**

NABA, and the Miami Blue Chapter of NABA joined forces with the Miami-Dade County’s Environmentally Endangered Lands program, the Institute for Regional Conservation, and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, in order to restore areas of critically-endangered South Florida pine rockland habitat, including that for rare and endangered butterflies.

On Saturday, May 28th, a group of the volunteers met and began removing Melinis (an invasive, exotic grass) from the Calderon Pineland. This is the beginning of a “proof-of-concept” for pine rockland restoration, which is a collaboration among NABA-MBC/DERM (EEL)/IRC/FTBG.

(Pictured below are some of the volunteers removing the invasive Melinis and other invasives, and the bags of removed invasives after a few hours in the scorching Miami heat.)