National Wildlife Refuge · FWS · FL · Roosevelt connection
Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge
Alerts and conditions
All clear. The managing agency, the National Weather Service and wildfire reporting show no current alerts.
History
The designation history for this site (every law, proclamation and order, and the administration behind each) is being researched and checked by the Library’s historians.
The Roosevelt connection
Protected by T.R.
- March 14, 1903: as President, Theodore Roosevelt set aside Pelican Island Reservation (federal bird reservation). A 5.5-acre island in the Indian River Lagoon became the first federal bird reservation, the seed of today's National Wildlife Refuge System. Roosevelt enlarged it on January 26, 1909.
archive.org · standardebooks.org · en.wikisource.org · fws.gov · Roosevelt’s Public Lands
His proclamations and orders
- March 13, 1903: Unnumbered order (Lord no. 54), “Pelican Island Reservation, Fla., established as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds..” Today’s site began with this document. Renamed a national wildlife refuge in 1940.
Unnumbered order (Lord no. 54) in Theodore Roosevelt’s Executive Orders and Proclamations - January 26, 1909: Executive Order 1014, “Enlarging Pelican Island Reservation, Florida.” Today’s site includes land from this document. The mangrove islands added in 1909 enlarged the first federal bird reservation.
Executive Order 1014 in Theodore Roosevelt’s Executive Orders and Proclamations
What to see and do
Plan your visit
Check the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for current hours, fees and access.
Whose lands these are
These lands are the ancestral and present-day homelands of Native nations. A section on whose lands these are is being prepared with tribal review. In the meantime, Native Land Digital offers a starting point.
Pair it with
- Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge FWS · 5 miles
- Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area FWS · 36 miles
- Nathaniel P. Reed Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge FWS · 52 miles
- St. Johns National Wildlife Refuge FWS · 58 miles
- Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge FWS · 59 miles
- Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge FWS · 62 miles