View from Virginia Key

Virginia Key: the heart of Biscayne Bay

In 1877, Commodore Ralph Munroe, for whom the Miami Marine Stadium is named, sailed for the first time from Key West to Miami. His route: Biscayne Bay. The Bay was the community’s highway, north and south and from the Atlantic to the mainland.

Though our highways are now steel and concrete, Biscayne Bay remains an important corridor — a critical link to our environmental heritage.

And Virginia Key is at the heart of that corridor, connecting North and South Biscayne Bay.

“The pivotal location of Virginia Key offers the opportunity to interpret and manifest the diverse natural and cultural

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Environmentally Endangered Lands Report: Critical Habitats of Virginia Key

A new biological evaluation of Virginia Key just released by Miami-Dade County’s Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program documents the barrier island contains some of Miami-Dade County’s last remaining critical habitats.

Plant communities on the island include seagrass beds, sand and mud flats, mangrove and herbaceous wetlands, beach dunes and coastal maritime hammock.  Of the approximately 1,300 acres, submerged lands constitute 900 acres, coastal wetlands 235 acres, dunes 12 acres, maritime hammock 28 acres with an additional 7 acres of reforested maritime hammock reclaimed from previously disturbed areas.

Key findings of the biological evaluation show:
-Freshwater wetlands are “one of

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Photo Friday: Riding the Rickenbacker

Walking or riding the Rickenbacker is a favorite for hundreds of folks each day. But the old adage there’s safety in numbers doesn’t apply here. The blog, Transit Miami, recently posted some ideas for transforming the roadway into a safer and more beautiful corridor, more in line with the linear park it is.

Some of the ideas proposed include reducing the speed limit to 35 mph and narrowing the lanes to discourage speeding (a “road diet”).

See all the suggestions and reader comments at: http://www.transitmiami.com/2010/02/02/transit-miami-recommendations-for-the-rickenbacker-causeway/

With the Virginia Key Master Plan being revamped, now is the time to “Rethink

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