Key West National Wildlife Refuge is celebrating its Centennial Anniversary this year and the Miami Herald reports that the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center in Key West will be hosting a celebratory event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 15 that includes an environmental fair.

Included in the Miami Herald story is a short video clip that offers a wonderful overview of the refuge, so be sure to check it out.

President Theodore Roosevelt founded the refuge in 1908, and according to the Herald:

Green sea turtles nest on its sandy beaches. Rare Miami blue butterflies flutter along its dunes. Hawks use the mangroves for resting areas to and from the Caribbean.

Hurricane Wilma’s storm surge devastated many of the refuge’s 26 islands — but also created a new one. Wilma Key became a haven for endangered roseate terns, piping plovers and red knots.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the refuge — which is only accessible by boat — is located 140 miles southwest of Miami and immediately west of Key West, and includes 189,497 acres owned, 154 managed for the U.S. Coast Guard (2,019 as designated Wilderness), with a total of 206,289 acres of marine waters managed with the state of Florida. Currently the refuge is administered by National Key Deer Refuge.

Tom Wilmers, a biologist for the USFWS, has been in the Keys since 1994, and offers a testament to the power of the refuge:

”I planned to stay only two years but became enraptured. Inch for inch, the refuge is the greatest place I’ve ever been in my life, and I’ve worked in Alaska, Montana, Oregon and Massachusetts.”

Most of the 400,000 annual refuge visitors engage in activities such as boating, kayaking, fishing, and snorkeling, but keeping the human impact — including the impact from Cuban migrants — to a minimum is an ongoing challenge for the staff.

Visit the Key West NWR website for a map that shows the layout of the islands that comprise the refuge.

And Happy Centennial Anniversary to the refuge staff and volunteers at Key West NWR.

Tags:
wildlife, National Wildlife Refuge System, Key West NWR, Florida