National Key Deer Refuge
Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida.
NATIONAL KEY DEER REFUGE
The National Key Deer Refuge was established in 1957 to protect and preserve the national interest the Key deer and other wildlife resources in the Florida Keys. The Refuge is located in the lower Florida Keys and currently consists of approximately 9,200 acres of land that includes pine rockland forests, tropical hardwood hammocks, freshwater wetlands, salt marsh wetlands, and mangrove forests. It is home to 23 endangered and threatened plant and animal species and hundreds of others. Wildlife dependent activities are allowed; these include saltwater fishing, wildlife observation and photography, interpretation, and environmental education.
WILDERNESS
The Refuge includes federally-designated Wilderness areas that are part of the 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
Nearby Activities
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Interpretive Programs
- Wildlife Viewing
Directions
From Key West- head east/north on HWY US 1 to Big Pine Key. The Nature Center is located just past the only traffic light on the island, on the left (north) side of the road. Look for the blue Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges sign.
From South Florida and upper Florida Keys- Take HWY US 1 south and west to Big Pine Key. The Nature Center is located just prior to the only traffic light on the island. Turn right, (north) into the Nature Center parking lot.
