Historic Gables camp lets Girl Scouts enjoy the outdoors. Now, the outdoors need help

Back in 1945, Girl Scouts of the USA bought a woodsy tract not far from Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and named it Camp Mahachee. They raised the then-considerable purchase price of $3,337 by selling cookies, of course.

Through all the decades and cookie boxes since, the 11-acre property has remained a safe space where young girls can enjoy the outdoors. But the outdoors at the camp has changed, and not for the better.

The property has been ravaged by invasive plants suffocating the native hardwood hammock habitat. A sewer vine that covered the entrance of the park barely allowed visitors to walk in and, true to its name, emited a bad odor.

“You couldn’t walk a foot into the beginning part of this property,” recalled Bill Kerdyk Jr., former vice mayor of Coral Gables. “The Girl Scouts weren’t using it, plus it was a horrible look. It smelled bad when you drove through it and it was just very problematic.”

Located east of Old Cutler Road just south of Matheson Hammock Park and north of Fairchild, the historic campground has evolved to include a bathhouse, lodge and eight cabins. Camp Mahachee commemorates its 75th anniversary this year — a milestone marked with efforts to restore the landscape to its natural state that have been taking place for the past year.

Because his own kids were Girl Scouts and frequented Camp Mahachee, Kerdyk and his wife, Lynn, saw firsthand the camp’s decline. They decided they had to take action.

He contacted the Coral Gables Garden Club in the summer of 2022, and ever since, they’ve been working together to raise money with the Coral Gables Community Foundation and the Kerdyk family PARKnership fund.

The amount needed to complete the project is approximately $178,000. Thanks to community efforts and donations, nearly $130,000 has been raised so far.

The Camp Mahachee restoration project started in June 2022. The first phase involved removing invasive plants. A contractor was hired for the task. But other aspects of the restoration were done by volunteers, including the Girl Scouts themselves.

Chelsea Wilkerson, CEO of Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida, stressed the importance of young girls being able to experience nature at Camp Mahachee.

“Many of the girls who come here, it’s the first time they’ve had an opportunity to camp,” said Wilkerson. “It’s the first time they have an opportunity to hear night noises where they’re able to roam around at night in a safe outdoor space.”

“It’s really important to me that the girls not only have access to this kind of space but see us being good stewards of the resources that we have and in the restoration of these resources.”

Phase two of the project gave the scouts the chance to get their hands dirty and play an important part in the restoration. In October, about 200 Girl Scouts came together to plant 1,100 native trees to return the area to its original hardwood hammock.

Phase 3 started on April 16th. The Camp Mahachee Butterfly Garden Planting event drew close to 200 Girl Scouts and neighborhood allies. Community partners such as Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Miami Blue, the EEL Department of Miami-Dade County, and the UF/IFAS/Extension Miami-Dade County Office also provided information to the girls about the habitat and butterflies.

Climate change threatens many native species of butterfly, as rising temperatures push them to migrate into new territories and rising sea levels threaten their host plants.

Read More: Invasive plants, climate change degrade this Coral Gables park. Help is coming soon

The neighboring Matheson Hammock Park will also be having a restoration project beginning this summer, which has inspired a partnership between the neighboring lands.

“We want to be good neighbors,’’ said Wilkerson. “We recognize that invasive species don’t recognize property lines or property boundaries. And so even if they’re doing their cleanup, if we don’t, then our seeds will continue to spread.”

While the entrance restoration plan is nearly complete, the rest of the property still needs work. But all involved in the restoration project are ready to take on that challenge.

“We really consider this to be the first of what will be a multi-phase effort to restore all of Camp Mahachee to its original beauty and splendor as an endangered habitat here in South Florida,’’ said Wilkerson.

This story was produced as part of a partnership between the Florida International University Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media and the Miami Herald. Milena Malaver is a journalism student at FIU.