Gulf Restoration Network

Cypress trees belong in the ground, not in plastic bags!

A Florida cypress forest is a beautiful thing. Cypress trees provide habitat for threatened and endangered species, critical areas for migratory birds, help protect our communities from flooding, filter our waters, and are part of the amazing experience of being in nature in Florida. They are a valuable and intrinsic element of all that is wild and free in Florida. They belong in the ground, in our wetlands, and along our coastlines…NOT in plastic bags as mulch.

Cypress forests in Louisiana, Florida, and throughout the Gulf are being clear-cut to produce cypress mulch. Whole swamp ecosystems are being lost and the entire trees are being ground up to be sold in the garden departments of Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Lowe's.

These forests and wetlands are literally being sold off for two dollars a bag. It's like shredding the Constitution to make post-it notes: a NATIONAL TREASURE is being turned into a disposable product.

The Gulf Restoration Network (http://www.healthygulf.org/) and the Save Our Cypress Coalition (http://www.saveourcypress.org) has presented Lowe's, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot with extensive evidence of the destruction that is caused from cypress mulch. All three companies recognize it is a problem, but none of them have taken the concrete steps that are necessary to live up to the environmental commitments that they tout so loudly. These companies need to stop selling cypress mulch.

Cypress mulch is an unsustainable and unnecessary product, and there are much better options available. Melaleuca mulch is a great alternative and using this product is a way to help protect the Everglades while saving cypress trees. (Melaleuca trees were planted by the Army Corps of Engineers around the edges of the Everglades in the early 1920s as a way of drying the "swamps." This tree has become a pest because it proliferates at an enormous rate and can overtake native vegetation). And of course, there are always the leaves that fall in the driveway or the grass clippings from your yard.

The Gulf Restoration Network is proud to be working with Florida Defenders of the Environment to spread the word about protecting cypress forests. FDE has signed on to a Save Our Cypress campaign letter, and recently hosted a meeting of local activists in Gainesville who are working together to stop the sale of cypress mulch. Together we can protect rivers like the Withlacoochee and the Ocklawaha, and ensure the cypress-filled banks are there for future generations.

Please take a moment on your next shopping trip to tell the store manager that you don't want the company to sell cypress mulch, and visit www.healthygulf.org to send a message directly to the CEOs of Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Lowe's.

To learn more about the campaign and to get involved in this effort please contact Joe Murphy at 352-583-0870, or joe@healthygulf.org.