Miami-Dade's land conservation program is facing a crippling budget cut
By Jenny Staletovich
August 21, 2026 at 3:15 PM EDT
A year after Miami-Dade County stripped its environmental division of regulatory authority, a coalition of conservation groups are warning a dramatic budget cut now threatens its award-winning land preservation program.
In a letter to the county commission and mayor, the groups say ongoing cuts that have shrunk the budget by more than $30 million to next year’s proposed $6.5 million could cripple it.
The County is “not keeping pace with acquiring lands already approved for conservation across seven Commission districts,” a letter signed by Tropical Audubon Society, Friends of the Everglades, Miami Waterkeeper, Friends of Biscayne Bay and seven others said. “With each delay, we risk the irreversible loss of critically endangered ecosystems and the essential environmental and community benefits they provide.”
READ MORE: Another gift to help save Miami-Dade's disappearing pine rockland
Voters first approved the Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) program in 1990 and dedicated a cut of property taxes for two years to purchase and maintain land. In 2004, voters again endorsed the program by approving a $2.4 billion bond that funneled another $52 million into buying wetlands, pine rocklands, hardwood hammocks and other wild lands that have mostly disappeared outside national parks.
In the proposed budget, even the department that manages the program ominously warned that the continued decline in funding put EEL’s future in peril.
The Department of Environmental Resources “will need to carefully review the necessary structural or legislative strategies necessary to continue the program's financial and operational viability,” budget planners wrote.
In response to questions, the department said it was struggling with a tight budget to keep the program afloat.
“Funds have been drawn down over decades and are now nearing exhaustion, which is why the proposed budget reflects a lower level of available EEL funding,” the statement said. “The language in the proposed budget reflects this same long-term funding challenge.”
The county also wants to waive a requirement to keep at least $10 million in reserves in EEL’s trust fund.
But any delay in protecting land, said Tropical Audubon Executive Director Lauren Jonaitis, will likely drive up costs.
”Each year we wait to acquire those properties, we risk those properties from becoming more expensive or we lose the opportunity altogether because they could be developed,” she said. “Protecting natural lands isn't just about protecting wildlife. It's really about protecting our quality of life. These lands are directly related to our drinking water. They reduce flooding impacts. They improve our resiliency.”
EEL now owns or manages nearly 29,000 acres, with another 34,000 acres included on a list for acquisition. As of April, just $12.5 million remained in EEL’s bond allocation. A large chunk of that - $3.5 million - goes to the county park’s department for maintenance.
Land targeted for conservation makes up a quilt of South Florida wilderness, from coastal wetland to tropical hammocks, inhabited by rare plants, butterflies, bats, snakes and other critters. The land also provides a buffer from heat and flooding worsened by climate change.
The largest tracts lie in southern Miami-Dade County, where low-lying coastal wetlands once connected Biscayne Bay to the Everglades that provided a steady flow of clean freshwater to freshen the bay. Springs bubbled from the sea floor. But flood control cut off that supply, replacing it with polluted canals. As climate change fuels sea rise and warming oceans, that freshwater becomes more critically important.
The areas is also home to most of the county’s remaining farm land and under pressure to develop. Increasingly farms and other open space have been replaced by acres of housing. One developer hopes to build a community of 3D printed homes. A sprawling logistics center was approved by county commissioners in 2022 but later derailed by a judge’s ruling.
The list also includes pine rocklands, home to species found only in Miami-Dade, hardwood hammocks and land near the Oleta River, one of the few remaining patches of wilderness in urban Miami.
In recent weeks, private donors have given the program a boost: in early July an anonymous donor gave $950,000 to protect pine rockland and this month the Andy family donated five acres abutting the Quail Ridge pineland preserve. But county officials acknowledge donations can’t replace steady funding.
“The County must identify a reliable funding source to ensure the continued management and protection of EEL lands,” the statement said.
In their letter, the environmental groups asked Levine Cava and commissioners to restore the budget to at least $20 million. The coalition has also started a letter-writing campaign to collect support.
“S ome people think that EEL is just about acquiring lands. But it's also restoring the land, and then they have to manage the land as well,” Jonaitis said. ”We recognize that Miami-Dade County is facing a challenging budget and there's a lot of different competing priorities. But in our opinion, natural lands are part of infrastructure too.”
In a letter to the county commission and mayor, the groups say ongoing cuts that have shrunk the budget by more than $30 million to next year’s proposed $6.5 million could cripple it.
The County is “not keeping pace with acquiring lands already approved for conservation across seven Commission districts,” a letter signed by Tropical Audubon Society, Friends of the Everglades, Miami Waterkeeper, Friends of Biscayne Bay and seven others said. “With each delay, we risk the irreversible loss of critically endangered ecosystems and the essential environmental and community benefits they provide.”
READ MORE: Another gift to help save Miami-Dade's disappearing pine rockland
Voters first approved the Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) program in 1990 and dedicated a cut of property taxes for two years to purchase and maintain land. In 2004, voters again endorsed the program by approving a $2.4 billion bond that funneled another $52 million into buying wetlands, pine rocklands, hardwood hammocks and other wild lands that have mostly disappeared outside national parks.
In the proposed budget, even the department that manages the program ominously warned that the continued decline in funding put EEL’s future in peril.
The Department of Environmental Resources “will need to carefully review the necessary structural or legislative strategies necessary to continue the program's financial and operational viability,” budget planners wrote.
In response to questions, the department said it was struggling with a tight budget to keep the program afloat.
“Funds have been drawn down over decades and are now nearing exhaustion, which is why the proposed budget reflects a lower level of available EEL funding,” the statement said. “The language in the proposed budget reflects this same long-term funding challenge.”
The county also wants to waive a requirement to keep at least $10 million in reserves in EEL’s trust fund.
But any delay in protecting land, said Tropical Audubon Executive Director Lauren Jonaitis, will likely drive up costs.
”Each year we wait to acquire those properties, we risk those properties from becoming more expensive or we lose the opportunity altogether because they could be developed,” she said. “Protecting natural lands isn't just about protecting wildlife. It's really about protecting our quality of life. These lands are directly related to our drinking water. They reduce flooding impacts. They improve our resiliency.”
EEL now owns or manages nearly 29,000 acres, with another 34,000 acres included on a list for acquisition. As of April, just $12.5 million remained in EEL’s bond allocation. A large chunk of that - $3.5 million - goes to the county park’s department for maintenance.
Land targeted for conservation makes up a quilt of South Florida wilderness, from coastal wetland to tropical hammocks, inhabited by rare plants, butterflies, bats, snakes and other critters. The land also provides a buffer from heat and flooding worsened by climate change.
The largest tracts lie in southern Miami-Dade County, where low-lying coastal wetlands once connected Biscayne Bay to the Everglades that provided a steady flow of clean freshwater to freshen the bay. Springs bubbled from the sea floor. But flood control cut off that supply, replacing it with polluted canals. As climate change fuels sea rise and warming oceans, that freshwater becomes more critically important.
The areas is also home to most of the county’s remaining farm land and under pressure to develop. Increasingly farms and other open space have been replaced by acres of housing. One developer hopes to build a community of 3D printed homes. A sprawling logistics center was approved by county commissioners in 2022 but later derailed by a judge’s ruling.
The list also includes pine rocklands, home to species found only in Miami-Dade, hardwood hammocks and land near the Oleta River, one of the few remaining patches of wilderness in urban Miami.
In recent weeks, private donors have given the program a boost: in early July an anonymous donor gave $950,000 to protect pine rockland and this month the Andy family donated five acres abutting the Quail Ridge pineland preserve. But county officials acknowledge donations can’t replace steady funding.
“The County must identify a reliable funding source to ensure the continued management and protection of EEL lands,” the statement said.
In their letter, the environmental groups asked Levine Cava and commissioners to restore the budget to at least $20 million. The coalition has also started a letter-writing campaign to collect support.
“S ome people think that EEL is just about acquiring lands. But it's also restoring the land, and then they have to manage the land as well,” Jonaitis said. ”We recognize that Miami-Dade County is facing a challenging budget and there's a lot of different competing priorities. But in our opinion, natural lands are part of infrastructure too.”