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Home , Key Deer, National Key Deer Refuge

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service To enhance your visit, the following wildlife- NATIONAL This sign indicates the boundary of the WILDLIFE dependent activities are permitted: National Key Refuge, REFUGE refuge. The Refuge Manager has Fishing on and Long Beach Road authorized this area open during Legend Wildlife and wildlands observation , Great White Heron UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY daylight hours to public access for PROHIBITED U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE wildlife-dependent activities. Personal photography Visitor Center and Crocodile Lake National This sign means that there is NO Hiking on designated trails Walking Trails AREA U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE public access permitted in the area Pets on leashes Wildlife Refuges Watson Trail 2/3 mile (1 km) BEYOND

THIS D beyond this sign. Access is prohibited E R P O A I R R T E M T EN IN T OF THE Bicycles permitted except the Watson and Mannillo Trail 800 feet (200m) SIGN to protect wildlife and habitat and/or to D CLOSED Mannillo Trails Welcome to the disabled accessible All public entry prohibited protect visitors. Keys National WL To protect you, other visitors and the environment, Wildlife Refuges - Hiking Trails the following activities are prohibited: National Weapons unless unloaded, cased and in vehicles/ D Refuge, Great White Deer Viewing boats Koehn Heron, Key West and WL Avenue The use of metal detectors to search for Crocodile Lake Wildlife Viewing Watson and antiquities or treasure. Antiquities belong to National Wildlife Mannillo Trails everyone. Refuges. These four Refuge Lands. refuges are located in Horses are prohibited on refuge lands. Horse Look for Refuge Blue Big Pine St. an extraordinary and Boundary Signs. Hole manure may carry seeds of invasive exotic plants. seemingly endless Pets are prohibited on refuge managed islands in expanse of sea, islands Private Property. Key West and Great White Heron National and sky. These Watson Blvd. Respect Private WL Wildlife Refuges. Seeingeye dogs are permitted refuges are part of a Property Rights. D for the sight impaired. vast subtropical ecosystem. This Watson Blvd. Camping on refuge lands is prohibited due to no distinct chain of sanitary facilities for campers. islands stretches Key Deer Fires are prohibited on refuge lands. Campfires almost 150 miles from National Key Deer, Key West & Great White Heron NWR's Blvd. can start destructive wildfires. the southeastern tip of 28950 Watson Blvd Wilder Florida, curving Big Pine Key, Fl 33043 Big Pine Road Poles or pipes such as beach umbrellas as they may penetrate turtle nests. gently westward Visitor center - 305/872 0774, Fax - 305/872 2154 Key dividing the aqua- Administrative office - 305/872 2239, Fax - 305/872 3675 Feeding, injuring, harassing, or removing wildlife, key deer To Key West N green waters of the Email: [email protected] plants, or natural items is prohibited. Feeding Gulf of Mexico from Website: nationalkeydeer.fws.gov 1 01Miles wildlife causes to become less wary the distant deep blue Atlantic. increasing the risk of poaching, spreading Crocodile Lake 0 Km 1.0 diseases and being struck by vehicles. Removing The four refuges include more than 416,000 acres of land and P. O. Box 370 can increase the decline of a species population. open water. Most keys are fringed along the shoreline by red , FL 33037 Introducing exotic plants or wildlife is prohibited. and black . On larger keys, this gives way to a wide phone: 305/451 4223 FAX 305/451 1508 variety of tropical and subtropical trees and shrubs on slightly Email: [email protected] This causes competition with existing native wildlife. higher ground. These lands maintain a unique biodiversity by Website: crocodilelake.fws.gov protecting and preserving important marine water, freshwater To Marathon June 2006 1 Storing equipment or property on refuge lands is , mangroves, tropical hardwood forests (hammocks), Long Beach prohibited. Abandoned property is unsightly and Road and pine forests. Together, these habitats provide the four costs taxpayers for its removal. basic components of a habitat- food water, shelter, and open Commercial activity is prohibited without a space, necessary for the survival of 22 federally listed permit. threatened or and other native wildlife. As This publication funded by the FRIENDS AND commercial and residential development in the Keys increases, VOLUNTEERS OF REFUGES. pressure on limited land and water resources become more photos: USFWS crucial to the survival of this fragile ecosystem. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

National Key Deer Refuge nesting area on Key Largo for this shy reptile. Key West and The 84,351 acre is located in the forests fringing the shoreline also support a wide variety of Great White Heron Lower Keys on 25 islands and consists of a patchwork of small wildlife including wading birds and songbirds, as well as National Wildlife and large tracts of pine forest, mangrove forest, hardwood serving as important nursery habitats for many fish species. Refuges hammocks, freshwater wetlands and marine waters. Key deer Encompassing are found on these 25 islands. The Key deer is the smallest The refuge also protects a unique tropical hardwood hammock, numerous islands sub-species of the Virginia white-tailed deer. Because the Key which supports a high diversity of plant species, 80% of which known locally as deer population is low and remains under threat of extinction are of West Indian origin. The refuge and the adjacent Key the Backcountry, from human interaction, the subspecies is federally listed as Largo Hammock State Botanical Site contain the largest these two refuges endangered. The current population is estimated between 600 continuous tract of hardwood forest remaining in the Florida are among the and 750. Key deer can best be seen at dawn or dusk in the field Keys. Nearly 100 species of native trees and shrubs can be oldest refuges in at the far end of Key Deer Blvd. and along Watson Blvd. on No found in these hammocks, more than found in some entire the nation. These Name Key. states! These forests are home to several endangered and areas were set threatened species including the Key Largo woodrat, Key aside for the Largo cotton mouse, Schaus swallowtail butterfly, Eastern primary purpose indigo snake and tree snail. Hardwood hammocks of maintaining a also provide important seasonal habitat for migratory preserve and neotropical songbirds and permanent homes to colorful tree breeding ground for native birds. In pinelands and prescribed burn contrast to the “main” Keys salt water which flows through the surrounding limestone. (linked by the Wildlife here includes fish, turtles, birds and alligators. Do Overseas Hwy/US not feed or harass the alligators—it is dangerous and 1), the pelican illegal! Backcountry, with a few exceptions, is a pristine, uninhabited area of islands Access for the disabled is provided. scattered amidst the biologically rich waters of the and the Gulf of Mexico. In 1975, Congress recognized the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge special qualities of these refuges by designating many of the Crocodile Lake NWR was established in North Key Largo in islands as part of the National Wilderness Preservation 1980 to protect and preserve critical habitat for the System, providing them with additional protection. Both poisonwood endangered American crocodile. The mangrove wetlands of refuges are of great interest scenically and scientifically, the refuge provide habitat, solitude, and the only known exemplifying a subtropical region unlike any other part of the . The refuge has a visitor center in the Big Pine Key Plaza, the Blue Hole site, the Jack Watson Wildlife Trail and the Fred osprey chick Key West National Wildlife Refuge was established by Mannillo (wheelchair accessible) Wildlife Trail. Refer to the Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 to curtail the slaughter of birds map for their location. Also, visitors are welcome to hike snails and butterflies. whose feathers were highly valued in the hat industry. Great refuge fire roads that are open for access. There are additional White Heron National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1938 hiking trails on Cudjoe Key, Upper , and Lower Due to the small size of the refuge and sensitivity of the to protect habitat for the great white heron and other Sugarloaf Key. habitat and wildlife to human disturbance, the refuge is closed migratory birds. Wading birds were threatened with to general public use. A single disturbance to a female extinction before this refuge began providing a safe haven for Big Pine Key has extensive growths of Florida slash pine, crocodile could cause it to abandon its nest leaving the nest them and other threatened plant and species. silver palms, thatch palm, and poisonwood. Poisonwood unguarded against predators. An interpreted butterfly garden produces an oil which can cause a rash to humans similar to is open to public access next to the refuge headquarters. The These two refuges encompass more than 200,000 acres of poison ivy. To identify it, look for telltale “burn” marks on the garden and office is located on State Road 905, approximately open water and over 8,000 acres of land on 49 islands, leaves. two miles north of US 1 at mile marker 106 in Key Largo. The protecting habitat for a wide variety of birds, the endangered public can visit the self-guided nature trail located at the Key Atlantic green and loggerhead turtles and is the only breeding The Blue Hole is an abandoned limestone quarry. The rock Largo Hammocks State Botanical Site adjacent to the refuge site in the U.S. for the endangered hawksbill turtle. material removed was used to build many of the original roads to see similar habitat and wildlife species. on Big Pine Key. The water is dependent on rainfall and from crocodile