Jacksonville Beach will use state funding to remove invasive Brazilian pepper from Cradle Creek Preserve, giving native vegetation a chance to recover in the 43-acre coastal preserve.
The City Council unanimously accepted $23,813.60 through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Upland Invasive Plant Management Program to control the invasive species, which can form dense thickets that crowd out native plants.
Jacksonville Beach will not receive the funds or make payments to the contractor. FWC will issue the purchase order and pay the contractor directly in accordance with the Uplands Program requirements.
The city's contribution will consist primarily of staff coordination, site access, project oversight and future maintenance of the treated area.
The issue came to the attention of Councilwoman Sandy Golding after Roxanne deSousa, who lives in the Marshside subdivision adjacent to the preserve, noticed the spread of Brazilian pepper last February.
“I am very delighted that the FWC Invasive Plant program has been approved for Jacksonville Beach,” deSousa said Monday. “It just hit me the amount of Brazilian peppers that were taking over the whole preserve and stifling native plants, so I reached out by email to Sandy Golding about my concern.”
Golding credited the city's Parks and Recreation Department with responding to the resident's concerns and helping identify funding for the project.
“They received a concern from one of our citizens about an invasive plant that was taking over Cradle Creek Preserve,” Golding said. “They heard her concern and they applied for funding from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and got over $23,000 from the state to be able to address the Brazilian pepper.”
The FWC Upland Invasive Plant Management Program funds invasive-plant control on public conservation lands. Projects are reviewed and prioritized through regional invasive-plant working groups, including the First Coast Invasive Working Group.
“I'm here to thank Sandy and Parks and Rec for following through,” deSousa said. “We are so happy that this is going to happen because it is also taking over in some of our yards, and it will give the native plants a chance to survive, and hopefully we'll have more bird life because that has diminished significantly.”
Situated along the Intracoastal/Pablo Creek estuary, Cradle Creek Preserve includes marsh and wetlands, trails, boardwalks and a kayak and canoe landing.
The preserve has been the site of prior invasive-plant removal efforts. In 2020, volunteers working with the Timucuan Parks Foundation and Jacksonville Beach removed Brazilian pepper from the preserve during the statewide Weed Wrangle.
Brazilian pepper is native to South America but has become widespread in Florida, where it can displace native vegetation and alter habitat conditions for native wildlife.
The Uplands Program funds projects designed to improve habitat conditions for Florida's native plants and animals. For nearly 30 years, the program has invested $282.7 million in 3,769 invasive-plant control operations covering 5.04 million acres of conservation land.
The program has assisted land managers on more than 700 tribal, federal, state, county and city natural areas totaling more than 10 million acres. Cooperating agencies have contributed approximately $92 million in matching funds, and another $16.71 million has been spent on invasive-plant surveys, research, outreach and other program support activities.
Golding said the project also illustrates the role local government plays in responding to residents' concerns. She referenced a recent panel discussion about the potential effects of Amendment 3 on state and local resources, including parks and recreation, libraries and mosquito control.
“All of these organizations talked about how the loss of tax revenues by the passage of Amendment 3 would impact their members and what they are doing to educate the public on Amendment 3,” she said.
“I just want everyone to understand that your tax dollars aren't being used to remove the Brazilian pepper plant, but they do pay for our Parks and Recreation Department and the work that they do, and our other departments do to respond to our citizens' concerns on a daily basis.”
