Brevard County has begun removing thousands of trees at Malabar Scrub Sanctuary

Threatened Florida scrub jays soon will hop along more open living space in Malabar Scrub Sanctuary after workers cut down several thousand trees in the name of conservation. Biologists say the tree removal that began last week will bring the sociable but vulnerable birds needed sandy open spots to forage for food and watch out for predators.

But mountain bikers, hikers and others who use the park are still hopping mad that so many trees have to go. Malabar threw in the towel too soon, they say, on a lawsuit Brevard County filed against the town to allow the tree removal at the sanctuary, part of Brevard County’s Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) program.

"Our work simply showed them they could leave some fringe oaks and not change the overall restoration plan one bit," said Murray Hann, a Malabar greenways and trails committee member, and board member of the Brevard Mountain Bike Association who's helped improve the sanctuary for years. "But all EELs has to say is 'that's against the science' and everybody nods and that's it."

The county and town have been at odds for more than a year over how many and which trees to remove to restore the sanctuary's overgrown scrub habitat.

EEL only anticipates having to close certain trails temporarily during the tree clearing. Some entrances may be closed if needed when trees are removed by trucks. The work is expected to take six to eight months.

More:Judge orders Brevard and Malabar to meet over tree cutting on conservation land

It's uncertain at this point how many of the sanctuary's trees will be spared out of as many as 20,000 targeted for removal. EEL wants to thin the sanctuary to two trees per acres to restore open scrub habitat.

EEL officials say they have identified 105 trees for preservation along the sanctuary's trails and perimeter. That doesn't include the trees along the perimeter between the fire-control line and the boundary fence, they say, which EEL estimates to be another 110 or more trees.

Advocates in the town had wanted to save 500 trees, and say it wasn't so much about the shade as about what's scientifically based and reasonable.

County officials have estimated they'll have to remove 10,000 to 20,000 trees to bring the 577-acre sanctuary to the desired one or two acres per tree. Those who've walked, peddled and marveled along the canopied trails for years just don't get why so many trees have to go.

Brevard reopened the sanctuary in May after the town agreed in concept to the county's less drastic tree-removal plan.

The town, in turn, agreed to waive new tree-removal permitting fees, in exchange for saving some of the park's most-prized trees.

Hikers and bikers can now reenter Malabar Scrub Sanctuary, after being locked out for almost a year and a half over a dispute with the county about how many trees must go to save the sanctuary's threatened scrub jays.

The land-clearing is intended not to disturb any nesting scrub jays .

The sanctuary had been closed to the public since January 2022, after Brevard County Commissioners decided to block off its entrances until the town renewed an expired permit for the county to cut down the trees, many of which block sunlight and hide raptors that feed on the threatened scrub jays.

Malabar had issued a permit to the county, which had begun the land clearing project in early December 2021. But when visitors saw a sign about the project posted at the sanctuary and brought concerns to the town's attention, town officials then noticed the county's permit had expired. And in the interim, the city's code had changed, now requiring a $40 per tree permit fee but not addressing conservation lands.

After the sides couldn't agree on which trees should go, in April 2022 Brevard County filed a lawsuit against Malabar, asking the court to declare the town’s new regulations "void, invalid, or unenforceable" and prohibiting their enforcement against the County.

But in March, a county judge ruled the sides first must go through a state-mandated conflict resolution process. A meeting between county and town officials' agreed in concept to ways to resolve the matter was part of that process.

The sanctuary is refuge for threatened species such as the Florida scrub jay, the gopher tortoises and the Eastern indigo snake. Habitats protected by EEL include xeric (dry) hammock, scrub, scrubby flatwoods, pine flatwoods, sand pine scrub, ponds, sloughs and depression marshes.

Biologists and county officials say removing trees will recreate the scrub jay's open, sandy scrub habitat. Hawks and other birds of prey occupy the current trees and are natural predators to the scrub jays. The argument is that thinning the trees will reduce the number of predators.

The Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program was established in 1990 to protect the natural habitats by acquiring sensitive lands for conservation, passive recreation and education.

Support local journalism and local journalists like me. Visit floridatoday.com/subscribe

Contact Waymer at 321-261-5903 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com. Or find him on Twitter: @JWayEnviro or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jim.waymer