Monroe County, FL Tree Protection: Protected Tree Species (2026)

S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined lie within critical habitat or designated potentially suitable habitat for a federally listed threatened or endangered species. On those parcels, no development may proceed without full compliance with Chapter 118 and other applicable regulations, including Section 122-8 of the floodplain chapter's permit referral process. S. Fish and Wildlife Service's April 30, 2010 Biological Opinion or under Section 122-8, the owner must consult directly with the Service and obtain its written authorization before Monroe County will allow work to begin; any conditions the Service imposes become conditions of the county development permit itself.

This dovetails with the county's existing conditions report requirement in Section 118-2: applicants on land with wetlands or upland native vegetation must submit a biologist-prepared survey listing every plant species found, tagging each as Threatened, Endangered, Regionally Important, a rapid-maturing native, non-listed native, exotic, or invasive exotic, and stating how many of each are proposed to remain versus be removed. Native trees and shrubs that reach reproductive maturity at under four inches diameter at breast height, such as saw palmetto, cocoplum, and Jamaica caper, get their own counting rule in that survey.

Together these sections mean a Key Largo or Big Pine Key landowner cannot simply clear native habitat containing a listed species; the biologist survey and, where triggered, federal consultation come first.