(Miami-Dade County, FL) -- On Saturday, August 5th, Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorenson joined representatives from Miami-Dade County Parks and DERM for the official tree-planting ceremony at Rockdale Park. Immediately following this ceremony was the sign unveiling for the Rockdale Pineland Reserve, located at the corner of SW 144th Street and 92nd Avenue.

Rockdale Park is one of the eleven South Dade Parks to receive a variety of new trees. Miami-Dade County District 8 Commissioner Katy Sorenson developed this initiative to enhance the tree canopy lost from the last hurricane season. In addition, one of the five new signs marking the Rockdale Pineland Preserve was revealed to the public for the first time. DERM Director, Carlos Espinosa, introduced the Rockdale Pineland Preserve and spoke of its acquisition though the Environmentally Endangered Lands Program. The Preserve is a 39-acre Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) site adjacent to the Miami-Dade Busway. The site contains over 225 types of native plants and more than 20% of these plant species are not found anywhere else in the world. Five of these plant species are federally listed as threatened or endangered. The “deltoid spurge” is the tiny plant that saved the site from development. DERM’s EEL Program Staff, Emilie Young, Chirstina Casado-Acorn, and Tiffany Smith, led a group of people through the Pineland Reserve where they were able to see first hand the “deltoid spurge.”