Construction: the death of Florida’s endangered ecosystems

Jacquelyn Hurtado/ Staff Writer

In 2014, it was announced that Palm Beach County developer, Peter Cummings, bought the land from the University of Miami and planned to construct a shopping center that would include a Walmart, Chili’s, LA Fitness and 900 apartments, according to Miami Herald.

The federal Fish & Wildlife Service claimed this shopping center would kill endangered species, so in Dec. 2017, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition filed suit in federal court where a judge issued a temporary restraining order to stop construction, according to Medium.  

However, on Mar. 13, the temporary stop was lifted, allowing the construction of a shopping center on rare pine rockland to resume. What seemed like a step in the right direction became nothing but a short-lived triumph.

With the temporary stop being lifted, Cummings’ shopping center will be the death of the last pine rockland left on Earth.

Cummings bought the land while the former UM president, Donna Shalala, was in charge. Rather than stop him from causing harm to this ecosystem, she and the University walked away with $22 million.

It’s so nice to see so many people looking out for our environment. Shalala, who is now running for U.S. Congress, is portraying herself as an advocate for the environment. Yet she saw money as more important than the endangerment of one of Florida’s natural ecosystems.  

Then we have Cummings, who had the great idea of constructing yet another Walmart — because we can’t have enough of those — ignoring the fact that he will damage natural habitats and threaten wildlife and plant species.

Seeing this careless disregard for nature has demonstrated the danger that humans pose to the environment. Instead of taking that land and turning it into a state park or nature preserve, it is used for more profit. And this goes for any construction site in any state — companies and people seem to care more about profit than the protection and care of the environment they live in.

Eventually, when Florida has no more space to construct on, residents are going to look out the window of their newly furnished apartment complex and wonder where all the trees are. We will be looking out at a colorless world filled with gray cement and debris.  

Unfortunately, it’s a sad truth that’s slowly being realized.

Right next to my neighborhood, there’s the West Kendall Baptist Hospital and a nursing home. Both buildings are surrounded by a large patch of land, and because of the open space, I could see the orange sun setting beautifully every evening.

Now, an Olive Garden is under construction and all I see is the dark, brooding silhouette of cranes.

The only way to save these rocklands and other ecosystems is if developers and corporations start seeing the bigger picture. Right now, they are blinded by profit and the need to accommodate Florida’s overpopulation, but this hyper-construction might well be the thing that pushes everyone out.

People will start to move away or refuse to come to Florida when they begin to seek the peace and beauty of nature. I know I will.

So, before it comes to the point where we have to see the last patch of grass at a museum, we need to rearrange our priorities and take care of the nature that has taken care of us for all these years.

 

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The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of Panther Press Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

 

Photo taken from Flickr.