A skirmish over who will run the beloved founded by famed environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas is squaring off between the longtime nonprofit that helped create it and Miami-Dade County park officials.
Earlier this month, park officials thanked the nonprofit for its 鈥渢ireless efforts鈥� and ordered it to pack up by November, according to a letter first reported by the Key Biscayne Independent, a SA国际传谋 News partner.
The nonprofit, led by one of Douglas鈥� friends and a member of a cadre of women conservationists dubbed 鈥淢arjory鈥檚 Army,鈥� said the eviction order caught the group completely by surprise.
The group has no plans to abandon a mission that for generations has helped introduce wild Florida to school children, said Theodora Long, the nonprofit鈥檚 director for the last 33 years.
鈥淧erhaps they just thought I was going to just pick up my purse and go out the door,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ur perseverance speaks for itself.鈥�
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Miami-Dade County officials say the letter was sent as a mere administrative matter: the group鈥檚 programming agreement is set to expire in November.
鈥淲e are exploring ways to keep them involved in the center鈥檚 future,鈥� Roy Coley, the county utilities and regulation chief, said in a statement in response to questions. 鈥淚n the meantime, Miami-Dade County wants to assure the community that the center will remain open and all programming will continue.鈥�
The county did not respond to specific questions about whether it wanted to take over running the center.
But in meetings with Parks Director Christina White, Long said she was told the parks department wanted to take over programming at the small center in Crandon Park on Key Biscayne, and leave fundraising duties to the nonprofit.
A lists a 鈥渇ee adjustment鈥� expected to bring in $1 million in revenue based on retaining 鈥減rogramming revenues at Crandon Nature Center.鈥� The proposal is part of a contentious budget battered by shortfalls in a financially tight year and scheduled for a final vote Thursday.
Long found the $1 million projection laughable.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no way, no how,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been there a long time. If I could have made a million dollars, I would have. You鈥檙e lucky to have two nickels to rub together.鈥�
Raising money also doesn鈥檛 line up with the nonprofit鈥檚 purpose, Long said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not in the fundraising business. I said that鈥檚 not acceptable,鈥� Long said. 鈥淚 said I鈥檓 willing to sit at the table with you and the district to talk about raising more funds, but we can鈥檛 take on that responsibility for the parks department.鈥�
Total revenue from the center amounted to just over $525,000, according to the nonprofit鈥檚 2023 tax exemption filing, the latest publicly available. Salaries ate up about half of that. The remainder went to programs, which include a free monthlong summer camp for kids between eight and 12.
That educational mission is rooted in the center鈥檚 creation, Long said, when a group of middle school teachers, including Mabel Miller, began running a camp out of a concession stand on the island in the 1960s. Douglas got involved when Miller invited her to speak to students. The River of Grass author soon became an ardent patron. As its future grew shaky amid yearly trips to school district meetings to plead for funding, Douglas decided to pursue a permanent nature center.
鈥淪he said I鈥檓 not going to live forever, so I鈥檓 going to start a not-for-profit Biscayne Nature Center and its task will be to build a center to educate school children about what鈥檚 in your back yard,鈥� Long said.
A Florida Department of Education matching grant Stoneman helped secure provided $1.8 million. The nonprofit raised the other half. The groundbreaking took place on Douglas鈥� 108th birthday, weeks before she died.
For years, a partnership between the nonprofit, the county and the Miami-Dade school district succeeded. The county owned the land and maintained the grounds; the Miami-Dade school district owned the building with a 40-year lease on the land, and took care of plumbing, electricity and bathrooms; and the nonprofit Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center handled programming.
鈥淧arks did paddle boarding, kayaking, etc.. We did education and so did the school system,鈥� Long said. 鈥淭hese programs have mirrored each other all these years.鈥�
That deal worked without a contract between the county and nonprofit for more than a decade, she said. Then in 2010, the county asked for a formal agreement. The deal provided a 10-year term, with a five-year rollover option. The agreement required the nonprofit to pay the county 10% of revenues from programming and concession sales. Fees were set at $12 per person for each program (they now range between $8 and $15), with discounts for underserved kids.
When the agreement expired in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and the county did not respond to requests to hammer out a new agreement, Long said the nonprofit board voted to sign the rollover option.
As the new deadline loomed this year, Long said she reached out to the former parks director. When White, the former Supervisor of Elections, was named as her replacement this spring, Long said she also sent an introductory letter, never expecting the county to so dramatically revise the deal.
鈥淚 figured she was new in the job and busy, busy, busy, and then we get the letter,鈥� Long said. 鈥淚t was like, here鈥檚 your hat, what鈥檚 your hurry.鈥�
Long at first declined to discuss the matter publicly, hoping to work out a deal. And she told SA国际传谋 she remains optimistic.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been staying quiet because I didn鈥檛 want to embarrass anyone,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is a legacy to Marjory and county parks should really be proud of the work we鈥檝e done rather than take it away from us.鈥�
A county spokeswoman did not immediately respond to follow-up SA国际传谋 questions about Long鈥檚 account.
Long also worries that grander plans by the parks department could run counter to restrictions required by the Matheson family when it donated the land in the 1940's and spelled out in a 2000 master plan. That plan calls for no more than a single building for the nature center, with space only for classrooms, bathrooms and teacher workspace, intended to 鈥減romote indigenous passive non-commercial environmental and historical education activities.鈥�
In a gentler time, those activities included field study, observing nature, lectures and films, and 鈥渙nly during daylight hours.鈥�
