Ecosystem Restoration and Management

Mission

Martin County’s Ecosystem Restoration and Management Division's mission is to preserve, restore, maintain and enhance Martin County’s environmental resources. We meet these goals through restoration of native habitats, water quality improvement projects, and developing appropriate public access to conservation lands.

What we do

Martin County manages approximately 35,000 acres of environmentally sensitive lands. Our staff carries out quality projects that meet our community’s needs, while also playing a vital role in support of improved public access to public lands and compliance with water quality requirements. The path forward includes continued progress on updating and implementing projects in the areas of water quality and ecological restoration.

ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION

Ecological restoration is critically important to our community. With an innovative and progressive approach, staff works to connect residents and visitors with nature while restoring damaged ecosystems.

This is achieved through:

Drafting management plans for all environmentally sensitive lands with an emphasis on restoration of native habitats, including treatment of invasive vegetation and control of problematic exotic animals.
Removal of invasive, exotic vegetation from conservation areas. Invasive, exotic species are plants and animals that have been brought to Florida from other parts of the world. These species, due to a variety of reasons, out-compete native species. As a result, they have a negative ecological, environmental and even economic impact.
Acting as leaders in projects that improve water quality and protect our river systems from damaging stormwater run-off and pollution.
Replanting heavily degraded areas with native, desirable plants. These native plant species increase diversity, provide shelter and food for wildlife and protect against erosion.
Restoring the hydrology of natural areas. Many natural areas have been negatively impacted by canals, ditches and impediments to water flow. Fixing the hydrology of natural areas improves habitats, helps protect our river systems and even benefits our water supply.
Compliance with the land acquisition and grant commitments of Martin County conservation lands to improve natural resource protection on acquired environmentally sensitive lands.
Working with other agencies and organizations to help solve environmental problems that do not stop at the border of our conservation lands.