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Mining
The extraction of Florida’s mineral resources contributed to the growth and decline of towns and
impacted land cover and natural resources in the 20th century. Florida’s main mineral resources
include phosphate, limestone, and sand (Florida Department of Environmental Protection
[FDEP] 2014). The state also contains deposits of heavy minerals that include zircon, leucoxene,
ilmenite, and rutile (FDEP 2014).
Phosphate mining is a major industry in Central Florida, and the state produces about onequarter of the world’s phosphate (FDEP 2014). Phosphate was initially discovered in Alachua
County in the late 1880s, but the first phosphate boom was in the Dunnellon area (Florida
Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute [FIPR] 2016a). The industry later moved further
south to the Polk County area, and Dunnellon’s last mine closed in the 1960s. The City of
Dunnellon continues to exist today, but other phosphate towns such as Romeo, LeRoy, Brewster,
and Parkersburg do not. Early mining was done by hand, but this practice was later replaced by
strip mining. Mining removes vegetation, alters drainage patterns and recharge, changes soil
profiles, and destroys habitat. Processing phosphate is also water intensive, which has caused
springs to dry up (Derr 1998). By 2000, more than 460 square miles of Florida had been mined
for phosphate (FIPR 2016b).
The state’s limestone, sand, and gravel are primarily used for road and building construction.
Limestone has been quarried in Marion County since the early 1900s, and even though mines are
located throughout the state, concentrations are still located in Marion and Miami-Dade County.
Sand is mined throughout the state, but many mines are located in the Panhandle and Central
Florida. Heavy minerals are mined in northeast Florida. Heavy minerals mining began in 1916
near the present day city of Ponte Vedra Beach. Two of these minerals, ilmenite and rutile, are
used as pigments in manufacturing items such as paints, plastics, and paper (FDEP 2014).
FLORIDA LAND USE AND LAND COVER CHANGE IN THE PAST 100 YEARS • 59
Urbanization
Land booms have occurred multiple times in Florida resulting in rapid population growth and
development. One of the first major land booms occurred after World War I. By this time, middle
class people had the time, money, and means to travel to Florida. Automobiles and improving
roadways made travel more accessible for middle class families, and Florida became a popular
tourist destination. Cities developed to attract tourists, but also to meet the needs of visitors that
were interested in buying homes. Developers built new communities to meet demand, and they
altered the land to do so. For example, Carl Fisher cleared mangroves to build Miami Beach
(George 1981). D.P. Davis dredged nearly 100 million cubic feet of sand to merge two small
islands near Tampa into one, now known as Davis Islands, by covering the mudflats (History
2014). George Merrick designed and built the Mediterranean Revival community of Coral
Gables, which included the construction of canals that offered gondola rides (Parks 2015).
However, a few seasons of bad weather helped end the post-World War I boom by 1925.
Following World War II, development in Florida boomed again. New home financing options
and improved construction techniques that lowered costs made homeownership possible for more
people. Additionally, retirees were drawn to Florida for its climate and lower housing costs.
Developers once again set out to build new communities in Florida. These developers utilized
economies of scale to create large suburban communities that sometimes included shopping,
schools, parks, and community centers (Nettles 2015). Once again, developers transformed the
landscape by completely clearing large tracts of lands during construction. Developers also
created new canals to maximize the amount of waterfront property. Some of these large housing
developments were designed as new towns, such as Spring Hill or Beverly Hills, and other
developments catered solely to retirees, such as Sun City. This boom slowed in the late 1960s
due to an economic recession.
Since the 1970s, Florida has been a growth management state and has sought to regulate new
development in an attempt to minimize infrastructure costs and environmental impacts. Florida’s
earliest land use regulation was the Zoning Enabling Act of 1928, which allowed local
governments to control development by enacting and enforcing zoning codes (Arrant n.d.). No
further regulation occurred until after Florida’s mid-century boom, but in 1972 and 1973 Florida
passed two planning statutes. The first created Regional Planning Councils (RPCs) to address
regional land use issues and the impacts of large-scale developments. The other created
Developments of Regional Impact (DRIs) and Areas of Critical State Concern (Arrant n.d.). DRIs
are large development projects that impact more than one county, and are required to undergo an
approval process that considers and mitigates the impacts. The DRI process has been scaled back
since its inception, and the types of development it addresses was reduced in 2011. Areas of
Critical State Concern are significant areas and natural resources that the state protects by
overseeing local approvals for development. The state currently has five Areas of Critical State
Concern: Big Cypress, Green Swamp, Florida Keys, Key West, and Apalachicola (Florida
Department of Economic Opportunity 2016).
60 • MICHAEL I. VOLK ET AL.
The next step in growth management was the Local Government Comprehensive Planning
Act enacted in 1975, requiring local governments to have comprehensive land use plans. Nearly
a decade later, in 1984, Florida adopted a State Comprehensive Plan with planning goals and
action steps. The following year, Florida enacted the Growth Management Act. This revised the
1975 act by requiring local government plans and amendments to be adopted by ordinance and
approved by the state. This act also required local governments to have Future Land Use Maps
(FLUMs) and Land Development Regulations (LDRs) (Stroud 2012). Florida revised its
comprehensive plan requirements again in 2011, this time significantly reducing the process for
state review of local plans and generally relaxing local planning requirements (Shelley and
Brodeen 2011). Although growth management policies have helped facilitate a coordinated land
use planning process throughout the state, Florida is still highly impacted by rising populations
and policies that incentivize development, making careful land use planning more important than
ever.
Disruption of Natural Processes
Throughout Florida’s history, people have disrupted natural processes to ‘improve’ the land.
These efforts have included draining wetlands, converting forests to farm fields and citrus,
introducing exotic species, and suppressing fires. Before people understood the causes of malaria
or yellow fever, which were once prevalent in the state, they linked the diseases to swamp gases
or miasma that came from standing water. Swamps were considered undesirable places with
deleterious effects on health, and draining these areas was considered beneficial. Additionally,
people believed that swamps and marshes, once drained, would make good agricultural land. In
other cases, filling in marshes was a way to create more land for development. One of the largest
of these projects was the draining of the Everglades. Early efforts began in the 1800s, but the
initiative intensified in 1906 under Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward (Davis 2009). To
drain the Everglades, a series of canals were dug to channelize and drain the water. The new
canals often expanded or altered existing rivers, such as the Miami and Kissimmee rivers, but
efforts to manage water and control flooding had limited success (Davis 2009). By the late 1970s
and early 1980s, the state undertook plans to restore hydrology within the watershed where
feasible. Efforts have also included dechannelizing and restoring the natural flow of the
Kissimmee River, which serves as the headwaters of the Everglades and flows into Lake
Okeechobee. Water treatment reservoirs have been built in several areas south of the Everglades
Agricultural Area (EAA), and others are planned in areas throughout the Everglades watershed
as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) (U.S. Department of the
Interior [DOI] 2016). Figure 2.1 provides a comparison of historic and current hydrology in the
Everglades, as well as future hydrology as proposed to be restored under CERP, with primary
flow patterns indicated by blue arrows.

Mining

The extraction of Florida’s mineral resources contributed to the growth and decline of towns and

impacted land cover and natural resources in the 20th century. Florida’s main mineral resources

include phosphate, limestone, and sand (Florida Department of Environmental Protection

[FDEP] 2014). The state also contains deposits of heavy minerals that include zircon, leucoxene,

ilmenite, and rutile (FDEP 2014).

Phosphate mining is a major industry in Central Florida, and the state produces about onequarter of the world’s phosphate (FDEP 2014). Phosphate was initially discovered in Alachua

County in the late 1880s, but the first phosphate boom was in the Dunnellon area (Florida

Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute [FIPR] 2016a). The industry later moved further

south to the Polk County area, and Dunnellon’s last mine closed in the 1960s. The City of

Dunnellon continues to exist today, but other phosphate towns such as Romeo, LeRoy, Brewster,

and Parkersburg do not. Early mining was done by hand, but this practice was later replaced by

strip mining. Mining removes vegetation, alters drainage patterns and recharge, changes soil

profiles, and destroys habitat. Processing phosphate is also water intensive, which has caused

springs to dry up (Derr 1998). By 2000, more than 460 square miles of Florida had been mined

for phosphate (FIPR 2016b).

The state’s limestone, sand, and gravel are primarily used for road and building construction.

Limestone has been quarried in Marion County since the early 1900s, and even though mines are

located throughout the state, concentrations are still located in Marion and Miami-Dade County.

Sand is mined throughout the state, but many mines are located in the Panhandle and Central

Florida. Heavy minerals are mined in northeast Florida. Heavy minerals mining began in 1916

near the present day city of Ponte Vedra Beach. Two of these minerals, ilmenite and rutile, are

used as pigments in manufacturing items such as paints, plastics, and paper (FDEP 2014).

FLORIDA LAND USE AND LAND COVER CHANGE IN THE PAST 100 YEARS • 59

Urbanization

Land booms have occurred multiple times in Florida resulting in rapid population growth and

development. One of the first major land booms occurred after World War I. By this time, middle

class people had the time, money, and means to travel to Florida. Automobiles and improving

roadways made travel more accessible for middle class families, and Florida became a popular

tourist destination. Cities developed to attract tourists, but also to meet the needs of visitors that

were interested in buying homes. Developers built new communities to meet demand, and they

altered the land to do so. For example, Carl Fisher cleared mangroves to build Miami Beach

(George 1981). D.P. Davis dredged nearly 100 million cubic feet of sand to merge two small

islands near Tampa into one, now known as Davis Islands, by covering the mudflats (History

2014). George Merrick designed and built the Mediterranean Revival community of Coral

Gables, which included the construction of canals that offered gondola rides (Parks 2015).

However, a few seasons of bad weather helped end the post-World War I boom by 1925.

Following World War II, development in Florida boomed again. New home financing options

and improved construction techniques that lowered costs made homeownership possible for more

people. Additionally, retirees were drawn to Florida for its climate and lower housing costs.

Developers once again set out to build new communities in Florida. These developers utilized

economies of scale to create large suburban communities that sometimes included shopping,

schools, parks, and community centers (Nettles 2015). Once again, developers transformed the

landscape by completely clearing large tracts of lands during construction. Developers also

created new canals to maximize the amount of waterfront property. Some of these large housing

developments were designed as new towns, such as Spring Hill or Beverly Hills, and other

developments catered solely to retirees, such as Sun City. This boom slowed in the late 1960s

due to an economic recession.

Since the 1970s, Florida has been a growth management state and has sought to regulate new

development in an attempt to minimize infrastructure costs and environmental impacts. Florida’s

earliest land use regulation was the Zoning Enabling Act of 1928, which allowed local

governments to control development by enacting and enforcing zoning codes (Arrant n.d.). No

further regulation occurred until after Florida’s mid-century boom, but in 1972 and 1973 Florida

passed two planning statutes. The first created Regional Planning Councils (RPCs) to address

regional land use issues and the impacts of large-scale developments. The other created

Developments of Regional Impact (DRIs) and Areas of Critical State Concern (Arrant n.d.). DRIs

are large development projects that impact more than one county, and are required to undergo an

approval process that considers and mitigates the impacts. The DRI process has been scaled back

since its inception, and the types of development it addresses was reduced in 2011. Areas of

Critical State Concern are significant areas and natural resources that the state protects by

overseeing local approvals for development. The state currently has five Areas of Critical State

Concern: Big Cypress, Green Swamp, Florida Keys, Key West, and Apalachicola (Florida

Department of Economic Opportunity 2016).

60 • MICHAEL I. VOLK ET AL.

The next step in growth management was the Local Government Comprehensive Planning

Act enacted in 1975, requiring local governments to have comprehensive land use plans. Nearly

a decade later, in 1984, Florida adopted a State Comprehensive Plan with planning goals and

action steps. The following year, Florida enacted the Growth Management Act. This revised the

1975 act by requiring local government plans and amendments to be adopted by ordinance and

approved by the state. This act also required local governments to have Future Land Use Maps

(FLUMs) and Land Development Regulations (LDRs) (Stroud 2012). Florida revised its

comprehensive plan requirements again in 2011, this time significantly reducing the process for

state review of local plans and generally relaxing local planning requirements (Shelley and

Brodeen 2011). Although growth management policies have helped facilitate a coordinated land

use planning process throughout the state, Florida is still highly impacted by rising populations

and policies that incentivize development, making careful land use planning more important than

ever.

Disruption of Natural Processes

Throughout Florida’s history, people have disrupted natural processes to ‘improve’ the land.

These efforts have included draining wetlands, converting forests to farm fields and citrus,

introducing exotic species, and suppressing fires. Before people understood the causes of malaria

or yellow fever, which were once prevalent in the state, they linked the diseases to swamp gases

or miasma that came from standing water. Swamps were considered undesirable places with

deleterious effects on health, and draining these areas was considered beneficial. Additionally,

people believed that swamps and marshes, once drained, would make good agricultural land. In

other cases, filling in marshes was a way to create more land for development. One of the largest

of these projects was the draining of the Everglades. Early efforts began in the 1800s, but the

initiative intensified in 1906 under Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward (Davis 2009). To

drain the Everglades, a series of canals were dug to channelize and drain the water. The new

canals often expanded or altered existing rivers, such as the Miami and Kissimmee rivers, but

efforts to manage water and control flooding had limited success (Davis 2009). By the late 1970s

and early 1980s, the state undertook plans to restore hydrology within the watershed where

feasible. Efforts have also included dechannelizing and restoring the natural flow of the

Kissimmee River, which serves as the headwaters of the Everglades and flows into Lake

Okeechobee. Water treatment reservoirs have been built in several areas south of the Everglades

Agricultural Area (EAA), and others are planned in areas throughout the Everglades watershed

as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) (U.S. Department of the

Interior [DOI] 2016). Figure 2.1 provides a comparison of historic and current hydrology in the

Everglades, as well as future hydrology as proposed to be restored under CERP, with primary

flow patterns indicated by blue arrows.