Workers attack invasive plants on Thousand Islands
BY JIM WAYMER • FLORIDA TODAY • March 12, 2009 

COCOA BEACH -- The Aussies must go.

Tall Australian pines fell this week along Fourth Street to clear the way for natives.

Brevard County's estimated $400,000 plan will remove the exotic pines and other invasive species along Fourth Street and the nearby Thousand Islands to replace them with trees and plants that belong here.

The city stands to lose a little slice of Australia, and, for the time being, some spots in the shade. But biologists say the gains in wildlife, erosion control and rekindled natural heritage should far outweigh the temporary sentimental loss.

The felling of the exotic pines marked a milestone in a multiyear battle to restore the islands to their previous pristine glory.

The trees' downfall echoed the controversial removal of Australian pines from Melbourne Causeway in 2005, when the Florida Department of Transportation removed about 200 Australian pines that had lined the causeway, some more than 50 years old.

The Thousand Island invasive tree-removal plan also drew controversy.

But, in January, city officials ultimately relented, when the county agreed to remove trees in the southernmost islands over five to seven years, rather than tear them out all at once.

Bill Milliken of Riverview Lane likes the way the Australian pines look, and the shade and seclusion they provide along Fourth Street.

"I kind of like it the way it is," he said, after strolling by the trees Wednesday. "I've got some mixed feelings about it."

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