In response to a spate of littering incidents by boaters, Flagler Monument Island in Miami Beach will be off-limits over the upcoming Fourth of July weekend. According to a recent city announcement from Miami Beach, the closure will kick in early on Thursday, July 4, at 6 a.m. and extend through the festivities until 6 a.m. on Monday, July 8. Miami Beach Police Chief Wayne A. Jones voiced concerns that the holiday crowds had turned the island into their personal landfill, an issue that the local authorities aim to staunch with a beefed-up enforcement presence.
Historically, the uninhabited island is only accessible by boat and welcomed throngs of boaters each year until littering became too grave a problem. Brought into existence by one of Miami Beach's founding fathers, Carl Fisher, the island boasts a significant 96-foot obelisk which pays tribute to Henry M. Flagler, an influencer of Florida's modernization and the man behind the East Coast Florida Railway.
Remarkably, during a time when the world grappled with a pandemic and the island was a sanctuary from human trespass, it witnessed the hatching of the first known North American ospreys' nest in the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve. This event was chronicled by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, adding a layer of ecological significance to the island's historical charm.
