Walking for a greener South Florida

American Forests, July-August, 1994 by Michelle Robbins

Miami-Dade County residents rally to repair the ravages of Hurricane Andrew.

ALEIDA SOCARRAS was wet. The rain had been steady, and her clothes and shoes were soggy. The coworkers she had convinced to take this Saturday walk in the rain were teasing her about not bothering to show up for work on Monday. She was having a great time.

If Hurricane Andrew has a positive legacy, it's the enormous potential it is creating for a greener south Florida. If you doubt that, just ask Socarras and the 1,500 other residents of the Miami-Dade County area who took a symbolic four-mile trek April 23 in support of tree planting. The rain dampened neither the crowd's enthusiasm nor the results of the first-ever Global ReLeaf Walk for Trees, organized by AMERICAN FORESTS and sponsored by a host of local businesses and organizations. One result was the raising of more than $50,000 for local tree-planting projects.

Socarras said later she was walking on behalf of her employer, Peoples Gas Systems; the Leadership Miami Group of The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce; and her son, who belongs to an environmental club at school. As for her coworkers, who told her afterward they preferred a rainy walk to a hot, sunny one, she said with a laugh, "I have a new appreciation for all of them."

The walk kicked off with a rally that featured environmental cheers, strolling costumed characters, a large "earth ball," and a proclamation that Saturday was officially recognized as Global ReLeaf Walk for Trees Day in Dade County. Storm clouds gathered along with the walkers but failed to spoil a mood that was part community picnic and part environmental rally, with a little circus rolled in. Participants came armed with umbrellas, signs, and message T-shirts ("The earth needs all the friends it can get," said one), and proceeded to walk, run, or roller-blade the route. Some came with little ones firmly in hand, in strollers, or in backpack carriers.

Janet Perales of the Friends of Metrozoo was preparing to man a water station and cautiously eyeing the darkening sky. "Just the mere fact that they're trying to get the community involved is fantastic," she said. "Getting young kids involved sends out a positive message to the community here."

The presence of so many students made it clear that the area's young people are not going to sit idly by and wait to inherit the Earth. As the crowd shouted its encouragement, students got the walk rolling--literally--by navigating a six-foot globe down a set of steps toward the starting point. There they were joined by banner-toting Global ReLeaf student cochairs Samantha Ibarguen and Meghan Hauptli.

Lorraine Brill walked briskly through what became a warm and steady spring rain--participating, she said, at her daughter's urging. To her, trees mean "oxygen, beauty . . . just about everything."

The $50,000 raised that day and subsequent contributions will go to plant trees in Cool Communities demonstration sites at Homestead Habitat for Humanity's new ecological community and in the neighborhood of Richmond Heights. Cool Communities is an AMERICAN FORESTS/Department of Energy project aimed at reducing energy use through strategic tree planting and the lightening of surface colors. It is one of the projects in the Clinton Administration's Climate Change Action Plan.

Some of the Walk money will go to support the Tamiami Pine Preserve, part of Dade County's 4,400 acres of pine rockland. Andrew killed more than 90 percent of the area's mature slash pine; what was left has been devastated by severe outbreaks of pine bark beetles and pine reproductive weevils. Lead sponsor AT&T announced at the walk that it will contribute to the restoration of the Tamiami Pine Preserve by planting 500 trees there.

Jim Marshall, president of the Richmond Heights Homeowners Association, said his community is excited about being part of Cool Communities and bringing nature back into their area. "We lost so many trees," he said.

Nicholas Mau is only 9, but he gathered 14 pledges and spoke admiringly of a friend who collected 31. Trees "give off air. They shade. They give fruit and food, and they're nice to climb in," he said.

The weather was blamed for lowering the expected turnout of walkers, but those that came remained upbeat. Walkers chatted about kids, school, and families--rather than the weather--as they strode past well-treed homes in shades of peach and tan.

John Upman brought his son Brian, 13, along on the walk. Upman, horticulturist for Dade County Parks, admitted he's trying to steer his son in the direction of an environmental career, although a grinning Brian did not as yet appear convinced.

The Upmans moved back into their home only a few weeks before the walk. Away when the hurricane hit, Upman and his family returned to find all the landmark trees gone and the neighborhood hard to recognize. For South Dade now, he said, the biggest problem is people not knowing enough about the science of trees and planting and pruning. The devastation is so widespread that residents have left "terrible specimens" of trees that will become hazards in a couple of years because "people are just so glad to have something green."