The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) is pleased to announce the 2006 grant cycle for the Public Lands Grant Program. This program, which will be administered by the County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management (ERM), will assist municipalities and other public agencies with the removal of the County’s nine prohibited plant species (air potato, Australian pine, Brazilian pepper, carrotwood, earleaf acacia, kudzu, Japanese & old-world climbing fern, melaleuca and Queensland umbrella tree) from their public properties in Palm Beach County.
Each fiscal year the County will make available a total of $400,000 for a minimum 50/50 matching-grant program on a reimbursement basis, with a $50,000 maximum for each individual project. In addition to the grant program, the County will be initiating other incentive and financial assistance programs to help public and private property owners with the removal of invasive non-native vegetation. In the past three years, more than $1 million has been awarded to various public agencies in Palm Beach County, resulting in invasive plant removal projects totaling over $2.55 million.
The impact of invasive non-native vegetation on Florida’s treasured natural areas is a real and serious threat. Several endangered plant and animal species are directly impacted by the habitat loss caused by invasive vegetation. A 1999 survey of South Florida revealed that over two million acres of land are covered by just four of the worst invaders, Brazilian pepper, melaleuca, Australian pine and old-world climbing fern.
Since the original $100-million environmentally sensitive lands bond issue in 1990, Palm Beach County has purchased more than 30,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land. The removal of invasive vegetation from County natural areas is the number one priority and largest expense, at $2 to $3 million per year. In fact, the state spends over $80 million per year in removing and controlling invasive vegetation from state-owned natural areas.
It is for these reasons that Palm Beach County is taking an aggressive approach to combating these destructive plants. Palm Beach County is taking the lead in the state in not only removing invasive vegetation from County-owned natural areas, but also in helping the public remove these plants from their properties.
The deadline for submitting an application for the grant program is May 24, 2006. For a copy of the application package, or for more information about the grant program, please contact Matthew King at (561) 233-2421. The form also can be downloaded at:
http://www.co.palm-beach.fl.us/erm/protection/removalinc.asp
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