In a big win for Miami-Dade County residents, our drinking water supply, Everglades Restoration and crucial habitat for birds and other wildlife, a judge this week ruled against Miami-Dade County’s proposed SR-836 extension outside of Miami-Dade County’s Urban Development Boundary (UDB) intruding into the Everglades wetlands.
Administrative Law Judge Suzanne Van Wyk’s March 30th decision may well have sounded the death knell for the planned 14-mile, 6-lane toll road. The sole justification for the tollway — that it would improve congestion — was flatly rejected based on the evidence presented.
Her ruling is also a hard-fought victory for Tropical Audubon Society and our co-petitioner Miami-Dade County resident Michelle Garcia, who joined us in opposing plans for a tollway extension into precious buffer farmlands and crucial Everglades wetlands located in southwestern Miami-Dade County.
Our opposition to the proposed SR-836 extension is central to our mission: To conserve and restore South Florida ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife and their habitats.
The proposed $1 billion toll road extension, if built, would: threaten the Bird Drive Basin project, a component of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP); increase the cost of and timeline for completing other Everglades Restoration projects; remove a key area needed for drinking water supply recharge; and stress wildlife, including endangered and threatened species who forage, or likely forage, in these protected wetlands — species such as the Florida Panther, Wood Stork, Snail Kite, Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow, Florida Bonneted Bat and Eastern Indigo Snake.
To mount a conservation effort of this scope, we formed a coalition of like-minded organizations that included Audubon Florida,
Friends of the Everglades,
Hold the Line Coalition and 1000 Friends of Florida, each of whom provided TAS with substantial support. Nor could we have come this far without the extraordinary help of our formidable attorneys Richard Grosso and Paul Schwiep. Each partner deserves a standing ovation.
With this favorable ruling in hand, TAS and our coalition partners will next urge Governor DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet to put an end to this ill-advised project.
Our TAS board, staff and birds thank you — and all of our members and friends — for the ongoing support you have given to our opposition of the proposed SR-836 extension. Whether through membership, donations or advocacy, your engagement was crucial to helping us achieve this first win.
We will continue to need your voice to strengthen ours in the coming months. So please stay tuned as we prepare to address the Governor!
