Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida.
Name: Florida Keys Wilderness
Established by Congress in 1975
Acreage: 6,197 acres
Why Wilderness? The Wilderness Act of 1964 created the National Wilderness Preservation System "in order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization does not occupy and modify all areas in the United States, and its possessions, leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition..."
For more information: https://wilderness.net/visit-wilderness/?ID=188
The refuge is accessible only by boat. However, the refuge is administered as part of the National Key Deer Refuge headquartered on Big Pine Key, which is 100- miles south of Miami. The visitor center is located 1/4-mile north of the traffic light on Key Deer Boulevard in the Big Pine Key Shopping Plaza. The visitor center can be reached at 305-872-0774.