Can you trim mangroves in Florida without a permit?

Often, yes. If the mangroves form a fringe no more than 50 feet deep along your shoreline, you can trim ones up to 10 feet tall yourself, down to no lower than 6 feet. Taller ones, up to 24 feet, can be trimmed under the same exemption by a professional mangrove trimmer. Removal is a different matter.

Can I cut mangroves that are growing into my seawall or dock?

Usually. FDEP says trimming or altering mangroves inside the footprint of a dock, branches hanging over it, and mangroves growing into a seawall can fall under an exemption tied to dock and seawall maintenance. FDEP asks owners to send a description and photos to the permitting office before any work starts.

Do dead mangroves fall under the same rules?

Yes. FDEP points out that the Mangrove Act doesn't distinguish between living and dead mangroves, so the same height limits and permit rules apply to both. Seedlings rooted along the shoreline count too: pulling them up takes a trimming or alteration permit, while collecting loose, floating seeds doesn't.

Mangrove Trimming in Pompano Beach, FL

Owner trim limit: in a shoreline fringe, mangroves up to 10 feet tall can be trimmed without a permit, but never below 6 feet.
Professional trimmer: mangroves of 10 to 24 feet need a professional mangrove trimmer, and ISA Certified Arborists qualify.
Tall mangroves: at 16 feet or more, trimming goes in stages, with no more than 25% of the foliage removed per year.
Best season: FDEP says October through March, when mangroves grow least.

Waterfront owners reach a local contractor through Pompano Beach Tree Care, a free line for mangrove trimming that has to stay inside Florida's Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Act. Tell us roughly how tall the mangroves are, how long your shoreline is and whether they've been trimmed before, and the contractor can say which exemption or permit the job falls under.

Mangrove Trimming by Species and Shoreline

Red mangroves with tangled reddish prop roots growing along a concrete seawall at the edge of a canal

Red mangroves along seawalls

Red mangroves are the ones with arching, reddish prop roots, and they usually grow closest to the water. On a canal lot they can push against the seawall and spread out over the dock. FDEP treats mangroves growing into a seawall, or inside a dock's footprint, as a case that can be trimmed or even altered under a maintenance exemption. Send the permitting office photos first. If a professional trimmer is cutting red mangroves under the trimmer exemption for the first time, the law requires written notice at least 10 days before work starts.

White mangroves with oval yellow-green leaves on higher ground behind a line of black mangroves with pencil-like roots poking out of the mud

Black and white mangroves

Black mangroves grow a little higher up the shore and send up finger-like breathing roots through the mud around the trunk. White mangroves sit higher still. They have no visible aerial roots, and you tell them by their leaves: oval, up to 3 inches long, with two small glands where the leaf meets the stem. The law covers all three species the same way. None of the trimming exemptions allow removal, so taking a mangrove out means an individual permit and, often, mitigation.

Mangrove fringe trimmed to a flat, even height along a waterfront backyard, open water visible over the top

View trimming on waterfront lots

The Act says outright that it means to give waterfront owners their riparian right of view, and its trimming exemptions are how it does that. The conditions are specific. The mangroves have to be a riparian fringe, no more than 50 feet deep from the most landward trunk to the most waterward one. Heights are measured from the substrate, where the trunk meets the ground, even under water. On a shoreline longer than 150 feet, no more than 65% of the mangroves may be trimmed under an exemption. No herbicide or chemical may be used to strip leaves.

Row of mangroves kept as a neat, flat-topped hedge along a canal bank, fresh cuttings on the grass

Keeping hedged mangroves in shape

Mangroves already trimmed under an exemption or permit can be kept at that height and shape, and historically established maintenance trimming is grandfathered by law. The proof is an affidavit from someone who knows the old configuration, or photographs. Take dated photos after every trim. Cutting below 6 feet, even on a hedge that has been kept low before, takes an individual permit unless it matches a height already established.

Gloved arborist tapping a live oak trunk with a grey mallet to listen for decay, clipboard under one arm

Why Pompano Beach homeowners call Pompano Beach Tree Care

One independent local tree crew per request
Price, cleanup and haul-away in writing first
Ask for insurance proof and an ISA arborist
Free to call; you pay the crew only for work you OK

Mangrove Trimming Permits in Broward County

FDEP has handed its mangrove authority to a short list of local governments, and Broward County is one of them. The county's Environmental Permitting Division licenses mangrove trimming and alteration through its Aquatic and Wetland Resources program (954-519-1454). A delegated county issues the permits in place of the state, but the law bars it from restricting the fringe exemptions in any way. Trimming that fits an exemption needs no permit. Anything outside one needs a permit, and where the fringe runs deeper than 50 feet, FDEP says the owner needs a professional mangrove trimmer as well.

Before the First Cut

The owner shares the risk
State law presumes any violation happened with the owner's knowledge and consent.
Overcutting means replanting
If 5% or more of the trimmed mangroves end up below 6 feet, defoliated or destroyed, the area must be restored with new mangroves to equal canopy within 5 years. Owner and trimmer are jointly liable.
Repeat violations cost per tree
Second and later violations add up to $100 for each mangrove illegally trimmed, $250 for each one altered, and a separate penalty of up to $250 per mangrove on the trimmer.
Ask who qualifies
ISA Certified Arborists, certified wetland scientists, environmental professionals and ecologists count as professional mangrove trimmers under the Act. Ask which one will be on site.
Measure first
Ask the contractor to measure the current height from the substrate and note the shoreline length before quoting.

See sea grape trimming for coastal plants on the beach side of the property.