America’s Best Kept Secrets: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuges & Hatchery Archie Carr NWR Key West NWR A.R. Marshall Loxahatchee NWR Laguna Cartagena NWR Buck Island NWR Lake Wales Ridge NWR Cabo Rojo NWR Lake Woodru NWR Caribbean Islands NWR Lower Suwannee NWR Caloosahatchee NWR Matlacha Pass NWR Cedar Keys NWR Merritt Island NWR Chassahowitzka NWR National Key Deer Refuge Crocodile Lake NWR Navassa Island NWR Culebra NWR Okefenokee NWR Crystal River NWR Passage Key NWR Desecho NWR Pelican Island NWR Egmont Key NWR Pine Island NWR Florida & Everglades Headwaters NWR Pinellas NWR Florida Panther NWR Sandy Point NWR Great White Heron NWR St. Johns NWR Caribbean Green Cay NWR St. Marks NWR Hobe Sound NWR St. Vincent NWR Island Bay NWR Ten Thousand Islands NWR Activity Guide J.N. “Ding” Darling NWR Vieques NWR Welaka National Fish Hatchery https://www.fws.gov/southeast/ Special thanks to the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society for the funding for this project. Visit these Refuges! Archie Carr NWR Hobe Sound NWR Okefenokee NWR Melbourne Beach, FL Hobe Sound, FL Folkston, GA 772-581-5557 772-546-6141 912-496-7836 Fws.gov/archiecarr Fws.gov/hobesound Fws.gov/refuge/okefenokee A.R. Marshall Loxahatchee NWR Great White Heron NWR Pelican Island NWR Boynton Beach, FL Johnston Key, FL Indian River County, FL 561-734-8303 305-872-0774 772-581-5557 Fws.gov/refuge/arm_loxahatchee Fws.gov/refuge/great_white_heron Fws.gov/refuge/pelican_island Buck Island NWR J.N. “Ding” Darling NWR Sandy Point NWR St. Croix, USVI Sanibel, FL (Closed April-August) Fws.gov/caribbean/refuges/buckisland 239-472-1100 Christiansted, St. Croix, USVI Fws.gov/refuge/jn_ding_darling 340-773-4554 Cabo Rojo NWR Fws.gov/caribbean/refuges/sandypoint Boqueron, PR Key West NWR 787-851-7258 (accessible by boat) St. Marks NWR Fws.gov/refuge/cabo_rojo 305-872-0774 St. Marks, FL Fws.gov/refuge/key_west 850-925-6121 Cedar Keys NWR Fws.gov/refuge/st_marks Cedar Key, FL Laguna Cartagena NWR Fws.gov/refuge/cedar_keys Lajas, PR St. Vincent NWR 787-851-7258 Apalachicola, FL Culebra NWR Fws.gov/caribbean/refuges/lagunacartagena 850-653-8808 Culebra, PR Fws.gov/saintvincent 787-742-0115 Lake Woodruff NWR Fws.gov/caribbean/refuges/culebra DeLeon Springs, FL Vieques NWR 386-985-4673 Vieques, PR Chassahowitzka NWR Fws.gov/refuge/lake_woodruff 787-741-2138 (Accessible by boat) Fws.gov/refuge/vieques Fws.gov/chassahowitzka Lower Suwannee NWR Chiefland, FL Welaka National Fish Hatchery Crystal River NWR 352-493-0238 Welaka, FL Crystal River, FL Fws.gov/refuge/lower_suwannee 386-467-2374 352-563-2088 Fws.gov/welaka Fws.gov/refuge/Crystal_River Merritt Island NWR Titusville, FL Egmont Key NWR 321-861-5601 To get the most St. Petersburg, FL Fws.gov/refuge/merritt_island fun out of your Fws.gov/egmontkey National Key Deer Refuge Refuge visit, view Florida Panther NWR Big Pine Key, FL Immokalee, FL 305-872-0774 their website for 239-657-8001 Fws.gov/refuge/national_key_deer_refuge more information Fws.gov/refuge/florida_panther National Wildlife Refuges of Florida, Puerto Rico, & the U.S. Virgin Islands Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................ 1 History of the National Wildlife Refuge System ............................. 3 National Fish Hatcheries ................................................. 4 Working for Wildlife ..................................................... 5 Ecosystems and Habitats................................................. 6 Fish & Wildlife Service Shield............................................. 7 Junior Duck Stamp ...................................................... 8 Brown Pelican .......................................................... 9 Piping Plover .......................................................... 10 Whooping Crane and Eastern Indigo Snake................................ 11 Okefenokee Hooded Pitcher Plant ........................................ 12 Florida Manatee ....................................................... 13 Florida Scrub Jay ...................................................... 14 Key Deer.............................................................. 15 American Alligator ..................................................... 16 Yellow-shouldered Blackbird and West Indian Whistling Duck ................ 17 Florida Bonamia ....................................................... 18 Red-cockaded Woodpecker .............................................. 19 Red Wolf .............................................................. 20 Snail Kite ............................................................. 21 Gopher Tortoise and Roseate Spoonbill .................................... 22 Bald Eagle ............................................................ 23 Florida Panther and Bobcat.............................................. 24 Loggerhead Sea Turtle.................................................. 25 Crested Caracara ...................................................... 26 Answers .............................................................. 27 More Information ...................................................... 28 s te s an llfe ee The mission of the U.S. Fish and The Service contains National Wildlife Wildlife Service is working with others Refuges, National Fish Hatcheries, to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, Wetland Management Districts who wildlife, plants, and their habitats for manage habitat for migratory birds, protect the continuing benefit of the American endangered species, enforce wildlife laws, people. and consult on federal development projects. This nation’s fish and wildlife resources are some of our priceless natural treasures, a legacy that cannot be replaced. These fish and wildlife resources provide opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, serve as indicators of the environment’s health, and in many ways provide jobs. With pressures on our natural resources increasing each day, efforts to preserve them for future generations are becoming more critical. 1 atonal llfe efe ste The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System is to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans. efes an atees n loa Florida and the Caribbean are OKEFENOKEE fortunate to have 39 National Wildlife ST. MARKS Refuges and one National Fish ST. VINCENT LOWER SUWANNEE LAKE WOODRUFF Hatchery. These refuges include CEDAR KEYS WELAKA FISH HATCHERY CRYSTAL RIVER ST. JOHNS MERRITT ISLAND habitats like woodlands, beaches, CHASSAHOWITZKA EVERGLADES HEADWATERS LAKE WALES RIDGE ARCHIE CARR grasslands, and swamps, providing PINELLAS PELICAN ISLAND EGMONT KEY HOBE SOUND habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. PASSAGE KEY MATLACHA PASS ISLAND BAY CALOOSAHATCHEE PINE ISLAND Hatcheries are important for working J.N. DING DARLING A.R.M. LOXAHATCHEE FLORIDA PANTHER to restore fish populations that have 10,000 ISLANDS CROCODILE LAKE GREAT WHITE HERON been hurt by overfishing, pollution, or KEY WEST NATIONAL KEY DEER other habitat changes. They also provide millions of fish for stocking in lakes and ponds. eto o tlant ea CULBERA DESECHEO NWR NWR LAGUNA BUCK ISLAND NWR NAVASSA CARTAGENA NWR VIEQUES NWR aaa NWR CABO ROJO GREEN CAY NWR NWR SANDY POINT NWR Cabean ea 2 Te ennn of te atonal llfe efe ste Over 100 years ago, people were killing wading birds and pelicans so they could o no use the birds’ beautiful feathers, or plumes, tese l fats on women’s hats. Thousands of birds were killed. Several species were in serious There are over 560 refuges, danger of becoming extinct. several thousand Waterfowl Production Areas, and over Concerned citizens asked President 38 Wetland Management Theodore Roosevelt for help. In 1903, Districts. President Roosevelt created the first National Wildlife Refuge, tiny Pelican Island Refuges are important in Florida, to protect brown pelicans and habitat for over 700 bird other birds. This three-acre Refuge in the species, 220 mammal species, Indian River was, and still is, a nesting place 250 reptile and amphibian for hundreds of species of birds. species, and over 1,000 species of fish. Today, the National Wildlife Refuge System is the world’s largest and most The Refuge System has diverse collection of lands and waters set more than 45 million visitors aside specifically for wildlife. The Refuge every year to enjoy wildlife- System has grown to include more than 150 dependent recreation. million acres of the nation’s best wildlife Refuge visitors come to habitats. Varying in size from half-acre watch and photograph parcels to thousands of square miles, our wildlife, hunt, fish, and country’s Wildlife Refuges stretch from the participate in environmental Arctic Ocean to the South Pacific and from education programs. Maine to the Caribbean. 3 2 4 5 6 7 1 8 27 25 24 9 26 10 23 12 11 13 Connet te ots 18 (and color the picture blue) to see what Jay Norwood “Ding” Darling 19 designed to represent the National 22 14 Wildlife Refuge System. Mr. Darling 17 was a Pulitzer Prize winning editorial 20 cartoonist, a friend of Franklin D. 16 Roosevelt, and the head of the U.S. Biological Survey (the forerunner of 21 15 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). 3 atonal s ate ste The National Fish Hatchery System began 100 years ago in order to produce fish to add to dwindling wild fish populations. As with other kinds of wildlife, many fish populations suffered from human