Marco Island Executive Airport

Site Overview & History

Marco Island Executive Airport (MIEA) is a publicly owned general aviation airport operated by the Collier County Airport Authority and located approximately five miles north of Marco Island. The airport occupies approximately 62 acres and features a single 5,000-foot runway serving private and general aviation traffic in Southwest Florida.

What makes MIEA particularly unique from a vegetation-management perspective is its environmental setting. The airport is situated within a landscape dominated by dense mangrove and wetland vegetation, with natural areas extending along much of the runway perimeter. This creates an important interface between active airport infrastructure and sensitive native vegetation, requiring specialized and carefully coordinated management practices. Earth Tech’s project mapping illustrates this relationship particularly well, showing mangrove and wetland vegetation immediately bordering both sides of the runway and surrounding much of the airport property.

Earth Tech Environmental has provided environmental and vegetation-management services at MIEA since 2016, establishing a long-term working relationship with the airport and Collier County. Over the years, this work has included mangrove and native vegetation management, exotic and invasive vegetation control, mechanical and manual vegetation trimming, targeted herbicide applications, debris removal, and continued preserve-area maintenance. Current work continues to balance the operational needs of the airport with responsible management of the surrounding native landscape.

Exotic & Invasive Vegetation Control

Exotic and invasive vegetation control is an important component of Earth Tech Environmental’s ongoing management at Marco Island Executive Airport. Invasive plant species can spread rapidly throughout disturbed and natural areas, competing with native vegetation for sunlight, water, nutrients, and growing space. When left unmanaged, these species can alter native plant communities, reduce habitat quality, and interfere with the long-term health and function of surrounding preserve areas.

Earth Tech utilizes an integrated approach to invasive vegetation management, combining manual and mechanical removal with targeted herbicide applications based on the vegetation present and conditions within each treatment area. Work may include cutting and trimming, hand removal, foliar treatment, and cut-stump herbicide applications to reduce regrowth following removal. During the 2026 management cycle, Earth Tech crews performed vegetation cutting and trimming alongside targeted herbicide treatment of exotic vegetation within designated treatment areas surrounding MIEA.

Continued monitoring and follow-up treatment are essential because invasive vegetation can reestablish from remaining root systems, seed banks, or surrounding populations. By managing these species over time rather than relying on a single treatment, Earth Tech helps reduce invasive plant pressure while allowing desirable native vegetation to remain established and naturally occupy treated areas.

At MIEA, this selective approach is especially important because managed areas occur directly alongside extensive native mangrove and wetland communities. Careful treatment allows undesirable vegetation to be controlled while minimizing unnecessary disturbance to surrounding native habitat, helping maintain the ecological integrity and resilience of the preserve areas surrounding the airport.

Mangrove & Native Vegetation Management

Mangrove and native vegetation management is a significant component of Earth Tech Environmental’s work at Marco Island Executive Airport. With dense native vegetation occurring immediately adjacent to airport infrastructure and along much of the runway perimeter, management requires a targeted approach that addresses vegetation growth while preserving the surrounding native plant communities.

Earth Tech performs selective mangrove and vegetation trimming according to site-specific management requirements. Current treatment areas include approximately 1.69 acres where vegetation is maintained to a 5-foot height and an additional 0.20 acre where vegetation is trimmed to natural grade. These differing specifications allow vegetation to be managed according to the needs of each area rather than applying the same level of trimming throughout the property.

Management also extends along the runway perimeter, where Earth Tech performs approximately 2 acres of additional mechanical and manual vegetation trimming. Depending on site conditions, crews utilize a combination of mechanical milling, skid steers with specialized attachments, chainsaws, and manual labor to reduce vegetation overgrowth and maintain designated management areas. During the 2026 work cycle, crews performed multiple consecutive days of mechanical milling and chainsaw work along the runway perimeter.

Because these work areas are closely connected to extensive mangrove and wetland habitat, vegetation management must remain precise and site-specific. Selective trimming allows Earth Tech to address vegetation within designated management zones while avoiding unnecessary disturbance to adjacent native habitat. This approach helps maintain the intended condition of managed areas while preserving the ecological value, habitat structure, and natural character of the surrounding mangrove and wetland communities.