FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – In South Florida, the struggle to balance human development with the protection of sensitive animal species continues — and in Broward County’s Broadview Park, it’s dirt bikes and ATVs versus burrowing owls.
“They’re trespassing and we need these kids and adults off the fields because also we have the burrowing owls here and they are a threatened species so they are protected by state and federal law,” said Elza Van Ackerbroeck, a Broadview Park resident.
Van Ackerbroeck said she grew concerned after spotting Florida burrowing owls at the park, only to learn that dirt bike riders and ATV drivers often race across the open fields dangerously close to the owls’ protected burrows.
“Humans are supposed to stay 10 to 20 feet away from the nesting site, but check out these tire tracks right here and notice how close they come to the protected area,” said Local 10’s animal advocate Jacey Birch.
Longtime resident David Nielsen said the owls have become a multigenerational fixture in the neighborhood.
“These owls have been here for 15 years that I know of. Of course they only live 5 to 6 years so this is generational here,” Nielsen said.
Despite being fenced off, the park land — an old well field — is owned by the city of Fort Lauderdale but falls under the jurisdiction of unincorporated Broward County, meaning the Broward County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for enforcing no trespassing rules.
“Now we need help with trying to protect these owls because we have trespassers that are now coming here with their ATV’s, with their 2-wheel vehicles with their trash,” Nielsen said. “They are tearing up this piece of property, they are terrorizing the owls if you ask me and it needs to stop!”
Burrowing owls, which are protected under state and federal law, number only about 10,000 pairs statewide — and about half live in South Florida. Development and construction continue to destroy their natural habitat, making local efforts critical to their survival.
While the Broadview Park Civic Association has stepped up advocacy for the tiny 9-inch raptors, some parents push back, arguing children should be allowed to use the field for recreation.
“But if that owl is reacting to me then I’m too close,” said Paul Kragh of Project Perch, a conservation group called in to help protect the burrows.
Kragh said he noticed new burrows dug in the field without protective rope barriers.
“I noticed there were new burrows that had been dug that the tunnels weren’t protected by the ropes,” Kragh said.
Kragh helped rope off six burrows but said the underground tunnels — unseen from the surface — remain at risk from off-road vehicles.
“My big concern for the owls is that the tunnels stay safe and that the birds stay safe and that the birds are not hit by an ATV when they are out at night hunting,” Kragh said.
Fencing off the entire area would be expensive, and advocates are now hoping riders will voluntarily find an alternate area out of respect for the birds, whose survival increasingly depends on human intervention.
“I don’t think the neighborhood is really about shutting down anybody’s fun time but we definitely want to protect something that is local to us and we think they are important to the neighborhood, and if you look in South Florida everything is just turning into concrete and this is a beautiful sanctuary,” said Angela Clem, another Broadview Park resident.
Van Ackerbroeck said protecting the owls has become a personal mission.
“My responsibility here I believe is to keep these owls protected and safe so they can thrive and we get more owls,” she said.
