The Key West National Wildlife Refuge celebrates 100 years and prepares for challenges that include public overuse and diminishing food sources for its birds.
BY CAMMY CLARK
cclark@MiamiHerald.com
KEY WEST -- The Key West National Wildlife Refuge turned 100 on Aug. 8, seemingly as pristine and wild as it was in 1908 when President Theodore Roosevelt made it part of his conservation legacy.
''The refuge is the greatest gift any president could have given his country,'' said Tom Wilmers, biologist for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. ``It's a wonderful, fragile, wild place.''
The refuge, located off the coast of Key West, is full of life -- and surprises. 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.
To celebrate the centennial, the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center in Key West is hosting a daylong event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 15 that includes an environmental fair. Wilmers and a Teddy Roosevelt look-alike will be among several speakers.
The real Roosevelt never saw the Key West refuge, a 15-mile-wide swath of islands and water that runs west 22 miles to the Marquesas Keys. The Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean converge in the midst of its 208,000 acres.
Roosevelt, president from 1901 to 1909, designated 42 million acres of national forests, 53 national wildlife bird refuges and 18 areas of special interest, including the Grand Canyon.
He began establishing bird refuges in response to the lucrative plume trade. Hunters massacred whole colonies of wading birds for feathers to adorn ladies' hats, refuge manager Anne Morkill said.
Development is an ongoing battle for environmentalists in the Keys. But the establishment of the refuge thwarted the potential for building on the islands within its borders -- with the exception of privately owned Ballast Key. A four-bedroom mansion and three-bedroom guesthouse sit on the 26-acre island, which was for sale earlier this year for $13.8 million.
The rest of the refuge remains undeveloped and serves as a habitat for 250 bird species, including endangered white-crowned pigeons. The pigeons, which nest in the refuge's mangrove forests, fly daily to Key West's dwindling hardwood hammocks to find fruit to eat and carry back to their young, said Ken Meyer, founder of the Gainesville-based, nonprofit Avian Research and Conservation Institute.
''You can have all the mangrove forests in the Western Hemisphere to nest in, but without the kitchen, the white-crowned pigeons won't be successful,'' Meyer said.
Wilmers also is working to help the white-crowned pigeons, among many projects he has embarked on since arriving in the Keys in 1984.
''I planned to stay only two years but became enraptured,'' Wilmers said. ``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.''
Wilmers estimates that he's made nearly 2,000 trips to the refuge during his 24 years in the Keys.
''I see something new and different every time,'' he said Wednesday. ``Just got back now and I'm blown away. I saw a bird I had never seen there before, a marble godwit.''
Morkill, the refuge manager, said there is a balance between protecting the habitat and allowing the public to enjoy the refuge that taxes help support.
About 400,000 people visit the refuge annually, most while fishing, boating, snorkeling or kayaking, Morkill said.
Mangroves, which are not hospitable to human exploration, make up most of the islands. But a few, including Boca Grande and Woman Key, have sandy beaches that attract recreational users by boat.
In 1992, Wilmers helped put together a state and national management plan known as the Back Country Agreement that allowed public access to about half the beaches and closure of the rest to maintain unspoiled habitat for wildlife.
''It's still a problem,'' refuge ranger James Bell said. ``On holiday weekends, 30 to 40 boats can be lined up end to end along the beach, with large music parties, barbecuing on the beach and fistfights.''
Cuban migrants landing on the islands also have caused problems. They leave behind debris and oil and fuel that leaks from their boats. Some also camp, trampling precious habitat and destroying vegetation for campfires.
Then there's damage caused by treasure diggers, including a father and son duo from Tavernier.
''One had a vision of a religious icon buried on Boca Grande,'' Morkill said. ``They dug a huge hole. . . . That was not good.''
Fermin Fortun and his son, Fermin Fortun Jr., pleaded guilty in 2007 to a felony charge of destruction of federal property and served six months in jail.
Wilmers said he never grows tired of visiting the refuge. ``It's hard to beat sea turtle nesting season. But it's also just magical at the end of September to the second week in October to watch all the migratory birds come through. It's something I look forward to every year.''
source: miami herald
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