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County Commission & Community Image Advisory Board Chairman Dennis C. Moss Moderates Third Annual Tree Summit at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden |
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The Summit attracted an array of elected officials and other special guests such as Miami-Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorenson; District 8, City of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz; City of Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson; City of Doral Mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez; City of Homestead Mayor Lynda Bell; Clerk of Miami-Dade County Courts, Mr. Harvey Ruvin; Miami-Dade Assistant County Manager, Ysela Llort; Executive Director of MDX, Mr. Javier Rodriguez; Miami-Dade Parks & Recreation Director Jack Kardys; Representative from the Office of U. S. Senator Mel Martinez, Mr. Gabriel Valdes; GMC&VB, Pres. & CEO, Mr. Bill Talbert; City of Hialeah, Councilwoman Vivian Casals-Munoz; Village of Miami Shores, Vice-Mayor Donald Schockey; Village of Pinecrest, Councilman Bob Ross; Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Board of Trustees' President Bruce Greer; Director of Education for Fairchild, Ms. Caroline Lewis; City of Miami Beach Assistant Director Parks and Recreation, Mr. John Oldenburg; CIAB's Board and members, guests from Broward and Palm Beach counties and a host of other environmentally concerned individuals. The City of Miami, Milian, Swain & Associates, & MWH along with Miami-Dade Department of Environmental Resources Management were key sponsors. Chairman Moss shared, "The purpose of the Tree Summit is to reach out to the various government municipalities, agencies, businesses and individuals to join together and collectively identify and promote livable, resilient communities in South Florida and to team up in this effort to attract funding for programs for increasing tree canopy, the development of urban forestry programs and connecting park-like public spaces. In addition, this Summit will also explore the interest in forming a regional coalition, 'South Florida Urban Tree Canopy Coalition', to collaborate on pertinent issues related to the restoration and expansion of our urban forests." Recent studies have shown that Miami-Dade County has had historical significant losses in tree canopy cover due to hurricanes, citrus canker and urban development and when last measured, tree shade coverage calculations placed Miami-Dade County at less than 12% with some areas with coverage as low as 1-2%. To address such losses, Miami-Dade adopted the Street Tree Master Plan to address the need to increase tree canopy in the County to 30% or greater by the year 2020. During the Summit, elected officials joined in on a panel discussion entitled; The Government's Role in Driving Community Change at a Regional Level. Commissioners and Mayors were asked to highlight some of the projects in their communities that contribute toward reaching the goal of 30% tree canopy by 2020 and share with the audience what they felt their communities needed, that they don't currently have, to be able to achieve 30% tree canopy by the year 2020. Following the panel discussion the audience was invited to ask questions, share comments and provide suggestions and/or solutions to the goal set for 2020. With feedback from elected officials as well as the audience, the common solution to reaching the 2020 goal is to increase program funding and create tree policies for the future. The mission of the Community Image Advisory Board is to increase the number of scenic vistas; tree-lined streets and lush landscaping in our high traffic areas, popular destinations, and neighborhoods throughout the County to ensure visitors and residents experience the best that Miami-Dade has to offer. (Left Photo: L to R) Miami-Dade County Chairman Dennis C. Moss; City of Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson; City of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz; and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Board of Trustees’ President Bruce Greer (Right Photo: L to R) Chairman Moss; Mayor Shirley Gibson; City of Homestead Mayor Lynda Bell; M-Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorenson; and City of Doral Mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez
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COMMUNITY IMAGE ADVISORY BOARD
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