Miami Tree Emergency: Stop the Chainsaws

Miami Tree Emergency: Stop the Chainsaws

Send my email
Tree Removal NE 16th

Miami is facing a tree crisis.

Across our city, mature, native, and specimen trees are being rapidly removed—often in public rights-of-way and frequently justified with vague claims like “conflict with construction.” These removals are happening faster than they can be replaced, weakening our already fragile urban canopy.

Trees are not decorative. They are critical infrastructure in a climate-vulnerable city like Miami. They:

  • Reduce extreme heat and protect public health
  • Absorb stormwater and reduce flooding
  • Improve air quality
  • Support wildlife and biodiversity
  • Increase property values and neighborhood livability
  • Add beauty to our community

Yet, despite these benefits, residents are witnessing ...

Miami is facing a tree crisis.

Across our city, mature, native, and specimen trees are being rapidly removed—often in public rights-of-way and frequently justified with vague claims like “conflict with construction.” These removals are happening faster than they can be replaced, weakening our already fragile urban canopy.

Trees are not decorative. They are critical infrastructure in a climate-vulnerable city like Miami. They:

  • Reduce extreme heat and protect public health
  • Absorb stormwater and reduce flooding
  • Improve air quality
  • Support wildlife and biodiversity
  • Increase property values and neighborhood livability
  • Add beauty to our community

Yet, despite these benefits, residents are witnessing:

  • A surge in tree removal permits
  • A significant increase in tree removals, including native specimen trees
  • Inadequate mitigation and enforcement
  • Potential violations of Chapter 17 of the City Code
  • A system that prioritizes development speed over environmental protection

The current structure—where the Environmental Resources Department sits under the Building Department—has created a clear conflict of interest, undermining trust and accountability.

Miami cannot afford to lose its canopy.

We are calling on Mayor Eileen Higgins and the City Commissioners to take immediate action to protect our trees before it’s too late.

 

+

Email Mayor Higgins and the City of Miami Commissioners

🌳 How This Action Helps

When you send this email, you’re creating direct pressure on City leaders—and they pay attention. A surge of messages can trigger immediate action, including pausing tree removals, strengthening enforcement of Chapter 17, and accelerating long-overdue reforms like establishing the Tree Committee and restoring transparency.

🌿 Multiply Your Impact

After you send your email, share this campaign with 5 friends.
If each person takes action, we quickly build the collective pressure needed to protect Miami’s trees, hold officials accountable, and drive real change—fast.

Where do you live?

Compose your email

How we use the data you enter on this form

Do Gooder (the advocacy platform powering this online action) processes personal information from you that you enter on this form so that we can provide the functions and related services to you and The Campaigner (the organisation responsible for this online action) for their legitimate purposes, including possibly exporting it to other systems, and to effectively respond to enquiries and communications related to those services.

Specifically when you enter:

  • Your location data (residential address or postcode) it is used to locate your elected representative, to pre-populate your email signature and to provide The Campaigner with a visualisation of the location of the support for this campaign.

  • All other data you may enter, including your email address, name, telephone number, commentary and so on is used by The Campaigner to advocate for the campaign’s goals and where required may be sent to the target of the campaign.

The data collected by Do Gooder is also used by us in aggregate form to improve the service and may be held on your behalf outside your country of residence by our third party service providers. These providers are bound by contract to only use personal information on our behalf, in accordance with agreed terms. While the privacy laws of the country in which personal information is stored or transferred may be different from those in your country, we will always have safeguards in place when storing or transferring personal information. We will never sell, rent, loan or in any other way pass your information on to other parties other than to provide this service to you and The Campaigner.

The personal information collected by Do Gooder is held subject to a Data Processing Agreement between Do Gooder and The Campaigner in compliance with the EU's GDPR and Australian law.

Learn more about our privacy policy here

How is my data used?