Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area |
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IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
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 Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area
Location in the United States
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| Location | Hardee County, Highlands County, and Polk County, Florida, United States |
| Nearest city | Avon Park Lakes, Florida |
| Area | 900 acres (3.6 km2) |
| Established | 1991 |
| Governing body | United States Fish and Wildlife Service |
| Website | Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge |
The Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area is a special place in Florida where nature is protected. It was created in 2012 and is one of the newest parts of the United States National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System. This important conservation effort began with a gift of 10 acres of land. It was part of a big plan by the Obama administration called the "America's Great Outdoors Initiative."
Contents
Managing the Refuge
The Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge is managed by a group called the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge Complex. This group also looks after other important refuges, including the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge, and the Archie Carr NWR.
About the Area
The creation of the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area was announced by Ken Salazar. This refuge is a large area of land located south of Orlando and north of Lake Okeechobee. While it started with 10 acres, the goal is to protect 50,000 acres!
Florida has a special law called the Rural and Family Lands Protection Act. This law helps provide money to protect thousands of acres of working ranches in the Everglades system. This is part of a bigger plan to restore the Everglades, aiming to protect 100,000 acres. There are also plans for another new wildlife refuge in the area, located between the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge in the southwest and the new Everglades Headwaters NWR.
More Land Added
On March 24, 2016, the Adams Ranch in Fort Pierce became the first property to add conservation easements to the refuge. Conservation easements are agreements that protect land from being developed. After that, more land was added from places like Hatchineha Ranch, Camp Lonesome, Tiger Cattle Company, and the Idols Aside property.
In total, more than 4,214 acres were protected through these agreements. An additional 1,502 acres of land were purchased, and 400 acres were donated. The money for these purchases and agreements came from a $12.5 million fund called the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Protecting these lands helps keep important animals safe, like the gopher tortoise and the endangered Florida grasshopper sparrow.
Plants of the Refuge
The Everglades Headwaters Refuge has many different types of habitats, which means it has a wide variety of plants.
- Pine Flatwoods: These areas are home to animals like the Florida panther and the Florida black bear.
- Xeric Oak Scrub: This dry, sandy habitat includes plants like myrtle oak, Chapman's oak, sand-live oak, scrub holly, scrub plum, scrub hickory, rosemary, and saw palmetto. The rare Florida Ziziphus also grows here, providing a home for the Florida sand skink.
- Freshwater Marsh and Wet Prairie: These wet areas are filled with plants such as pickerel weed, sawgrass, maidencane, arrowhead, fire flag, cattail, spike rush, bulrush, white water lily, water shield, and various other sedges.
Endangered Species
The refuge is a critical home for several endangered species. These include:
- The Florida jujube, which is listed as federally endangered.
- The pygmy fringetree, also listed as endangered.
- The Florida sand skink.
- The Eastern indigo snake.
- The Sand Pine.
- The Scrub Beargrass.
- The Scrub Blazing Star.
Future Plans for the Refuge
Long-term plans for the Everglades Headwaters Refuge include buying more land or making conservation agreements to protect it. The main goal is to help water flow naturally from central Florida down to the Florida Everglades again.
Areas that will be part of these plans include:
- Lands owned by Celebration (Walker Ranch), which is part of the Disney Corporation.
- Three Lakes Management Area (1,261 acres).
- Lake Kissimmee State Park (472 acres).
- Lands around Lake Tiger.
- Levees (raised banks) around Lake Hatchineha, Lake Kissimmee, and Lake Cypress, covering about 20,800 acres.
There are also plans to widen canals that connect Lake Kissimmee to Lake Hatchineha (C-37 from 70 to 90 feet wide) and between Lake Hatchineha and Lake Cypress (C-36 from 48 to 60 feet wide). Some levees will be lowered to help water flow better. The big goal is to bring back the natural health of 36,500 acres of wetlands in this lower basin ecosystem. This will increase the total protected area by 30,300 acres, reaching 55% of the historical water levels before controls were put in place.
