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Sustaining Community Lands, Inc.

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The Martin Grade by Thomas Winter

Just half an hour west of Stuart, Florida, is an amazingly beautiful road that time seems to have forgotten.

This is the Martin Highway, County Road 714 between Allapattah Road and State Road 710, but the locals simply call it: 

"The Martin   Grade."  

The Martin Grade Scenic Highway Project
Protecting the Trees 

This historic, 12-mile road is shaded by a canopy of hundred-year-old oaks and is surrounded by pastures, groves, swamps, and woods just as it was when it was carved out of the wilderness by the region's earliest settlers.  

Click to View Video

We need Your Help to Keep Our Promises!

Contribute through the GREAT GIVE on May 5-6 and your Gift will be matched!

Support the Martin Grade through the Great Give 2015

Click here to maximize your contribution

 

The GREAT GIVE is a national 24-hour online giving event, hosted locally by United Way of Martin County and the Martin County Community Foundation, during which contributions will be eligible for bonus funding that will make them even more effective. The Martin Grade SCenic Highway is participating through its nonprofit partner, Sustaining Community Lands, Inc.

What is the Martin Grade Scenic Highway Project?

It is a community-wide effort to designate County Road 714 in western Martin County, Florida, a Scenic Highway in accordance with the Florida Scenic Highway Program.   The main emphasis of this project is to protect the tree canopy that covers much of the corridor and to preserve the rural nature of the area for generations to come.

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Art Photographer Thomas Winter donates art print of the Martin Grade.  Left to right: Amanda Farinos, Keren Carmel, Rob Dawson, Mona Schwall, Wilson the Dog, Thomas Winter, Judy Roberts, Mary Dawson (Lto R) . Photo by Steve Martine.

Help Implement the Martin Grade Corridor Management Plan!

Active Community involvement is a key part of the Scenic Highway application process.  You can play a major role in planning for th efuture of the Martin Grade tree canopy and its community.  Please contact us with your hopes and ideas for this special place. 

Award winning Martin County photographer, Thomas Winter, has jump started the Community Participation phase by donating a presentation art print of his renowned image of the Martin Grade and allowing SCL to use his Martin Grade images in promotional materials for the Scenic Highway Project.

Thank you, to Volunteers:

Donita Enright

Ewa Lewinger

Welcom to the Martin Grade Team!

 
 

News and Updates

The Martin Grade Named Florida's

25th Scenic Highway!

 Now we can get to work!

The Corridor Management Plan tells the Martin Grade's history and creates a feamework for keeping this roadway beautiful for generations to come.

 Promises we made in the Plan: 

  • Protect and enhance the Tree Canopy
    • Plant more trees
    • Replace lost trees 
    • Remove exotics
  • Engage the Community
    • Create educational materials regarding The Grade's history and ecology
    • Design a Martin Grade LOGO and brochures that tell the Martin Grade Story
    • Create a Scenic Highway and Heritage Loop website that supports Martin County's rural lifestyle and environmental spirit
  • Monitor local and regional transportation planning to head off future threats 
  • Raise money to fund the programs. 

 

 
MARTIN GRADE SCENIC HIGHWAY
CORRIDOR PLAN ACCEPTED!

The Martin Grade is now a Florida Scenic Highway!

Click here to download the Corridor Management Plan

 

Follow the Martin Grade Project on facebook/martin grade

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

How did the Scenic Highway Project begin?

Several years ago, a group of concerned citizens realized that widening the road would destroy the trees.  They started working to have the Grade designated a Florida Scenic Highway so that the people of Martin County can protect the trees for generations to come.   We need your help.

 

Why is  the Martin Grade worth protecting?

The Martin Grade Tree Canopy is the iconic image of Western Martin County.  It is the symbol of the quality of life Martin County residents have chosen for their community,  and protecting it is a commitment to the concept that Floridians do not have to choose between the things that give their communities beauty and value and Progress.   Through planning and commitment, we can have both.