Fines Do Little to Stop Cutting of Mangroves

Written by Kevin Lollar | 09 November 2008

Mangroves were crushed with heavy equipment on this lot. State and local regulations have been enacted to protect Florida's mangrove forests. Be sure to check with officials in your area prior to taking any action, to determine restrictions and whether a permit is required.

Whatever the reason — to increase usable land, ignorance of the law or willful disregard of it — people are illegally cutting mangroves, among Florida's most valuable resources, and usually getting away with what some see as inadequate fines in a process that can take years.

The state, however, defends the penalties it hands out, noting punishments often go well beyond fines.

"We take illegal mangrove cutting very seriously," said Tim Rach, an environmental administrator in the state's Office of Submerged Lands and Environmental Resource Permitting. "Mangroves are a dwindling resource. We do what we can."

The question is whether the state is doing as much as it should to enforce the Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Act of 1996.

From Jan. 1, 1997, to April 4, the Department of Environmental Protection documented 304 cases of illegal mangrove cutting; fines have been assessed in 208 of those cases.

During that period, one case of illegal mangrove trimming was brought in Lee County; a second was brought after April.

Fines too small?

Anyone violating the state's Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Act can be assessed a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation or a criminal penalty of up to $50,000 and five years in prison for each violation.

Every day during which a violation occurs is considered a separate offense.

But of the 208 cases in which fines were assessed, only nine (4.3 percent) were $10,000 or more; 94 (45 percent) were $1,000 or less — the two Lee County cases are still under investigation.

In all, the state handed out $517,525.80 in fines, for an average fine of $2,488.10.

"Some of the low fines might be for very minor infractions," Rach said. "Maybe they cut off a couple of extra branches when they were installing a dock. A lot of this is ignorance. If we feel a homeowner didn't know better, maybe there will be a low penalty."

From 1973 to 1996. Florida’s Atlantic Coast mangrove shield declined by more than 39 percent and the Gulf Coast lost 26 percent. A definite correlation exists between declining populations of juvenile snook and other inshore game and the rapidly disappearing tidal creeks, mangrove overhang and seagrass meadows. photo credit: Capt Peter Root

Mangrove expert Terry Tattar, professor emeritus of microbiology at the University of Massachusetts, said fines for illegal mangrove cutting are too low to be a deterrent.

"We need to re-evaluate the whole process," he said. "Obviously, we need tougher laws. The fines are so minimal that they really don't send a message. The worst case for the offender is, 'OK, you get caught, and you get a fine and find out it's not much more than a New York City parking ticket.'"

In fact, 19 of the fines assessed since April 1997 were $250 or less — $250 is the maximum fine the state allows for illegally parking in a handicapped space.

"The mangrove statute specifies what penalties we can exact," said Aliki Moncrief, deputy general council for the DEP's Civil Enforcement Section. "Those amounts are set by the Legislature. We at the department have to operate within the confines of the statutes."