Over 5 acres of maritime hammock in Anastasia State Park are at risk of being destroyed! The City of St. Augustine and Anastasia State Park have plans to develop the 5.4-acre parcel of state park land directly across A1A from the St Augustine Amphitheater entrance. Destruction of the Madeira Heights Maritime Hammock would have far-reaching negative consequences for our community and the surrounding environment.

The Madeira Heights Maritime Hammock provides a windbreak for the surrounding neighborhoods, which mostly consist of older homes more susceptible to hurricane wind damage.  Maritime hammock is reasonably resilient as long as the tree canopy remains intact, which helps keep the land area stable. The low, streamlined profile that the tree canopy creates deflects winds and generally prevents hurricanes from uprooting the trees. This hammock includes a berm, a raised dune area, that makes the area even more stable. Removing any part of the tree canopy or the berm would destabilize the hammock.

Maritime hammocks serve as crucial resting and foraging areas for songbirds on their fall and spring migrations to and from the tropics. Migrating songbirds that travel along the Atlantic coast use maritime hammocks for food and shelter. Conservation of the remaining maritime hammock in this area is critical in maintaining their breeding populations. North Florida hammocks have the greatest number of tree and shrub species per acre of all temperate forests in the continental United States. No amount of planting ornamental trees around a parking lot could ever replace what naturally exists now.

There's very little maritime hammock left on Anastasia Island because of non-stop development. This land that we all assumed would always be protected because it is state park land may be destroyed. . In the oldest city in the nation, we should preserve what green space and park space we still have left. We are petitioning the State of Florida and the Department of Environmental Protection to protect this area of Anastasia State Park as an area requiring conservation, and maintained as a recreational area for the park. 

First Coast News story about the land: https://youtu.be/Du0WFqQ5H_U