Save Our Pines among groups with interest
Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park in Key West has long been a paradise within a paradise for locals, and officials says they want to keep it that way.
In hopes of updating the park's management plan, which was last revamped in 1999, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Parks and Recreation will host a public workshop tonight to garner comments and suggestions regarding the best future strategies for Fort Zachary Taylor, which is on Southard Street at Truman Annex.
“We're reviewing the current plan.... We want to see what we've accomplished,” park Manager Mark Knapke said.
“The purpose of this meeting is to solicit public input to update the unit management plan,” said Matt Mitchell, Division of Recreation and Parks spokesman. “We want to get to know what the public has in mind” for the park.
Past such inquiries and new management directions have caused citizens to voice concern over what many call the commercialization of the park and the potential loss of the historic Australian pines.
The park has concessions, kayak rentals and has been used for weddings. It also hosts festivals such as a Civil War re-enactment.
The Save Our Pines organization has requested that its supporters show up at the meeting so they have a voice in what goes into the new management plan.
Previously, the group has fought long and hard against the removal of the pines. Their current plan is to wait and see what transpires at tonight's meeting before jumping to conclusions or coming before officials with an agenda.
“If the folks attending the meeting would like to discuss [the trees or the commercialization], that's exactly like what we want to talk about,” Mitchell said.
Officials such as Knapke, park staff, planners and the Florida parks District 5 bureau chief are expected to be at tonight's session. Following the meeting, state officials will take all comments into consideration as they put together a first draft of the plan. At that point, a yet-to-be-named advisory committee will be appointed for overview before the final plan comes back before the public in workshop form once again.
Mitchell said the process is long but worth the time and effort, considering Florida was recently named the “Nation's Best State Park Service” by the National Recreation and Parks Association.
“We take a lot of pride in visitors and ... the preservation of Florida,” he said. And “this park is very important and beloved.”
The meeting is to be held tonight at the Harvey Government Center in Key West at 7 p.m. For more information call 292-6713.
By Christine Braden
Published Keynoter 4/26/06
