Florida Mangrove Rules: What Waterfront Owners Can and Cannot Trim

Mangroves along Florida shorelines are protected by the Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Act, part of Chapter 403 of the Florida Statutes. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection administers the law, and local governments issue many of the permits where the department has delegated that authority.

The law matters to waterfront owners because it decides what you may trim without a permit, what needs a professional mangrove trimmer, and what requires a permit from DEP or your local government. It applies to red, black, and white mangroves along your shoreline.

Homeowners may trim mangroves without a permit when the mangroves are in a riparian mangrove fringe, the band of mangroves growing along the shoreline on land you own or control, or on sovereign submerged land immediately waterward.

The exemption carries conditions. The mangroves must be no more than 10 feet tall before trimming, they cannot be trimmed below 6 feet, and no herbicide or chemical may be used. Trimming cannot defoliate or destroy the mangroves.

The amount you may trim depends on your shoreline length. If your shoreline is 150 feet or less, you may trim up to 100 percent of the mangroves. If your shoreline is more than 150 feet, you may trim up to 65 percent.

These percentages apply to the homeowner exemption. A professional mangrove trimmer working under a general permit has a separate set of allowances, but the 6-foot floor still applies: nothing is cut below 6 feet in height.

Trimming that does not fit the exemption needs a permit. A general permit is available to riparian property owners who hire a professional mangrove trimmer, and an individual permit is required when the work does not meet the exemption or general permit criteria, such as trimming mangroves above the landward extent of the wetland.

Local governments can issue permits in place of DEP where authority is delegated, and they cannot restrict or qualify the homeowner exemption. For specific work, the reliable route is to confirm the current rule with DEP or your city before trimming.

Mangroves and dredging both touch the shoreline and the submerged land below it. Dredging near a mangrove fringe brings the same oversight into the review, because both activities sit under the state's authority over wetlands and submerged lands.

For an owner planning any shoreline project, the practical step is to get the boundary right first: which mangroves are in the fringe, what the pretrimmed height is, and which agency has jurisdiction over the waterway. A site review answers those questions.

If you are planning shoreline work or wondering how mangroves and depth interact on your property, a site review is the way to get a clear answer.

To request free resources about dredging, call (561) 299-1323 or email slselleck@gmail.com. Tell us about your dock, slip, or waterway and we will help you understand what it needs.