Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

Jamaica Bay Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area
Location	New York City, United States
Coordinates	40°36′57″N 73°49′48″W / 40.6158°N 73.83°W / 40.6158; -73.83Coordinates: 40°36′57″N 73°49′48″W / 40.6158°N 73.83°W / 40.6158; -73.83
Area	9,155 acres (3,705 hectares)
Established	1972
Governing body	National Park Service
http://www.nps.gov/gate

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife refuge in New York City managed by the National Park Service as part of Gateway National Recreation Area.

Bird watching has always been a popular activity at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, June 1973. Photo by Arthur Tress.

Conservation sign circa 1973

It is composed of the open water and intertidal salt marshes of Jamaica Bay. It lies entirely within the boundaries of New York City, divided between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. It is near John F. Kennedy International Airport, which was built upon a portion of the wetlands in Jamaica Bay. In April 1942, the City of New York started placing hydraulic fill over the marshy tidelands of the area.^[1] JFK International Airport is now the sixth busiest airport in the United States with 125 gates serving over 70 airlines^[2] which may pose some serious noise pollutant threats to the surrounding environment.^[3]

The refuge provides habitat for a wide variety of flora and fauna, both marine and terrestrial. It is a prime location for viewing birds and bird migrations, diamondback turtle egg-laying and horseshoe crab mating and egg laying. The primary diet of the Diamondback terrapins include fish, snails, worms, clams, crabs and marsh plants, many of which are abundant in these particular marshlands.^[4] Ospreys are currently being captured, tagged and studied in the Wildlife Refuge to help scientists better understand the birds' habits.^[5] Small mammals such as Eastern Gray Squirrels^[6] and raccoon^[7] are also present in the area. The recently increased raccoon population however has developed a taste for diamondback turtle eggs and many nests are often destroyed only 24 hours after being laid.^[8]

The extent of the refuge is mostly open water, but includes upland shoreline and islands with salt marsh, dunes, brackish ponds, woodland and fields. It is the only "wildlife refuge" in the National Park System. Originally created and managed by New York City as a wildlife refuge, the term was retained by Gateway when the site was transferred in 1972. Usually, federal wildlife refuges are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Features created under city ownership include two large freshwater ponds. A visitor center with a parking lot provides free permits to walk the trails.^[9] The two main trails go around the East Pond and the West Pond. The West Pond and its trail, however, were breached by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

On March 1, 1962, at 10:08:49, American Airlines Flight 1 crashed into Pumpkin Patch Channel, a remote area of marshland on Jamaica Bay that is part of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.^[10]

References

↑ "History of JFK International Airport". The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
↑ "(JFK) John F. Kennedy International Airport Overview". FlightStats, Inc. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
↑ Cohen, Beverly; Brozaft, Arline; Goodman, Jerome; Nádas, Arthur; Heikkinen, Maire (February 2008). "Airport-Related Air Pollution and Noise.". Journal of Occupational & Environmental Hygiene. 5 (2): 119–129. doi:10.1080/15459620701815564. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
↑ "Diamondback Terrapin". Defenders of Wildlife. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
↑ Foderaro, Lisa (2 May 2012). "An Earth-Bound View Of Where Ospreys Soar.". The New York Times. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
↑ Huynh, Howard; Williams, Geoffrey; McAlpine, Donald; Thorington, Richard (December 2010). "Establishment of the Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) in Nova Scotia, Canada". Northeastern Naturalist 17 (4): 673–677. doi:10.1656/045.017.0414. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
↑ Burke, Russell; Felice, Susan; Sobel, Sabrina (December 2009). "Changes in Raccoon (Procyon lotor) Predation Behavior Affects Turtle (Malaclemys terrapin) Nest Census.". Chelonian Conservation & Biology 8 (2): 208–211. doi:10.2744/ccb-0775.1. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
↑ Newman, Andy (17 July 2002). "Turtle Soup? Raccoons Like Eggs; A Hungry Invader Threatens Terrapins in Jamaica Bay". The New York Times. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
↑ Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge New York Harbor Parks
↑ AP (March 2, 1962). "Tides Hampering Hunt for Victims". The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA). p. 1. Retrieved November 22, 2009.

Black, Frederick R. (1981). "Jamaica Bay: A History. Gateway National Recreation Area, New York, New Jersey" (PDF format). Cultural Resource Management Study No. 3. Denver, Colorado: National Park Service.

External links

nps.gov/gate, official website of the Gateway National Recreation Area
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge – Visitor information from National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy
Jamaica Bay Tides Map – Map with web links to multiple locations surrounding the bay

National Recreation Areas of the United States

Administered by the National Park Service	Amistad Big South Fork Bighorn Canyon Boston Harbor Islands Chattahoochee River Chickasaw Curecanti Delaware Water Gap Gateway Gauley River Glen Canyon Golden Gate Lake Chelan Lake Mead Lake Meredith Lake Roosevelt Mississippi Ross Lake Santa Monica Mountains Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity

Administered by the US Forest Service	Allegheny Arapaho Ed Jenkins Flaming Gorge Grand Island Hells Canyon Jemez Land Between The Lakes Moosalamoo Mount Baker Mount Hood Mount Rogers Oregon Dunes Pine Ridge Rattlesnake Sawtooth Smith River Spring Mountains Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity White Rocks Winding Stair Mountain

Administered by the Bureau of Land Management	White Mountains

Protected areas of New York City

Federal

National Historic Sites	Lower East Side Tenement Museum Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace

National Monuments and Memorials	African Burial Ground Castle Clinton Federal Hall General Grant Governors Island Hamilton Grange Statue of Liberty

Other Protected Areas	Gateway National Recreation Area Floyd Bennett Field Fort Tilden Fort Wadsworth Great Kills Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Jacob Riis Miller Field

State

State Parks	Bayswater Point Clay Pit Ponds East River Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Gantry Plaza Riverbank Roberto Clemente

City Parks and
Preserves

Manhattan	79th Street Boat Basin Abingdon Square Albert Capsouto Asphalt Green Battery Bennett British Garden at Hanover Square Bowling Green Bryant Captain Patrick J. Brown Walk Carl Schurz Central Chelsea City Hall Collect Columbus Corlears Hook Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Damrosch Dante DeSalvio Playground DeWitt Clinton Drumgoole Plaza Duane East River Greenway East River Esplanade East River Park Stuyvesant Cove Finn Square Foley Square Fort Tryon Fort Washington Gorman Gramercy Hamilton Fish Hanover Square Harlem River Hell's Kitchen Herald Square High Line Highbridge Holcombe Rucker Hudson Hudson River Imagination Playground at Burling Slip Inwood Hill Isham J. Hood Wright Jackie Robinson Jackson Square John Jay Liberty Louis Cuvillier Madison Square Manhattan Waterfront Greenway Marcus Garvey Mill Rock Mitchell Square Morningside Murphy's Brother's Playground Muscota Marsh Paley Peretz Square Peter Cooper Plaza Lafayette Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden Ralph Bunche Randalls Island Richard Tucker Square Riverside Robert Moses Playground Roosevelt Triangle Rucker Sakura Samuel N. Bennerson 2nd Playground Sara Delano Roosevelt Septuagesimo Uno Seward Sheridan Square Sherman Square St. John's St. Nicholas St. Vartan Straus Stuyvesant Square Swindler Cove Teardrop Theodore Roosevelt Thomas Jefferson Thomas Paine Tompkins Square Tribeca Union Square Verdi Square Vesuvio Playground Wards Island Washington Market Washington Square West Side Community Garden Winston Churchill Zuccotti

Brooklyn	American Veterans Memorial Pier Amersfort Asser Levy Bath Beach Betsy Head Bensonhurst Breukelen Ballfields Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn Bridge Brooklyn Heights Promenade Brooklyn–Queens Greenway Brower Bushwick Byrne Cadman Plaza Canarsie Carroll Calvert Vaux City Line Coffey Columbus Commodore Barry Coney Island Beach & Boardwalk Coney Island Creek Continental Army Plaza Cooper Dyker Beach Floyd Bennett Field Fort Greene Four Sparrow Marsh Frank M. Charles Fresh Creek Nature Preserve Friends Field Fulton Gravesend Green Central Knoll Herbert Von King Highland Irving Square JJ Byrne Jamaica Bay Park John J. Carty John Paul Jones Kaiser Kelly Leif Ericson Leon S. Kaiser Playground Lieutenant Joseph Petrosino Lincoln Terrace Linden Lindower Linton Manhattan Beach Maria Hernandez Marine McCarren McGolrick McKinley Mt. Prospect Owl's Head Paerdegat Basin Paerdegat Prospect Red Hook Robert E. Venable Saratoga Scarangella Seaside Seth Low Shore Spring Creek Steeplechase Sternberg St. Johns Sunset Tompkins Trinity Van Voorhees Walt Whitman Wingate WNYC Transmitter Zion Triangle

The Bronx	Baretto Point Bicentennial Veterans Bronx Castle Hill City Island Wetlands Claremont Concrete Plant Crotona Devoe Ewen Ferry Point Givans Creek Woods Grant Haffen Harding Harris Henry Hudson Hunts Point Jerome Joseph Rodman Drake Joyce Kilmer Julius Richman Macombs Dam Mill Pond Mullaly New York Botanical Garden North and South Brother Islands Orchard Beach Pelham Bay Rodman's Neck Playground 52 Poe Pugsley Creek Rainey Raoul Wallenberg Forest Richman Riverdale St. Mary's Seton Falls Seton Soundview Spuyten Duyvil Shorefront St. James St. Mary's Starlight Tremont University Woods Van Cortlandt Vidalia Vinmont Veteran Washington's Walk

Queens	Admiral Alley Alley Pond Andrews Grove Astoria Baisley Pond Bayside Fields Bayswater Beach Channel Big Bush Bowne Brant Point Wildlife Sanctuary Breininger Broad Channel American Park Broad Channel Park Broad Channel Wetlands Brooklyn–Queens Greenway Brookville Bulova Captain Tilly Crocheron Cunningham Det. Keith L. Williams Det. William T. Gunn Dr. Charles R. Drew Dubos Point Wildlife Sanctuary Doughboy Douglaston Elmhurst Evergreen Flushing Fields Flushing Meadows-Corona Forest Fort Tilden Fort Totten Francis Lewis Frank Golden Frank Principe Haggerty Harvey Highland Hinton Hoffman Hook Creek Hunter's Point Idlewild Jamaica Bay John Golden Juniper Valley Kissena Kohlreiter Square Libra Triangle Linnaeus Little Bay Louis Pasteur Mafera Macneil Marconi Marie Curie Montbellier O'Donohue Overlook Park of the Americas Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto Ofc. Edward Byrne Powell's Cove Queens County Farm Museum Queensbridge Rachel Carson Railroad Ralph Demarco Rochdale Rockaway Community Rufus King Seagirt Avenue Wetlands Socrates Sculpture Spring Creek Springfield St. Albans Travers Tudor Udall's Park Preserve Wayanda

Staten Island	Aesop Allison Pond Amundsen Circle Annadale Arbutus Woods Arden Woods Austen House Barrett Bayview Terrace Blood Root Valley Bloomingdale Blue Heron Park Preserve Blueberry Bradys Bunker Ponds Buono Beach Carlton Clove Lakes Clove's Tail Conference House Corporal Thompson Crescent Beach Deere Eibs Pond Faber Fairview Father Macris Forest Grove Fort Hill Fort Wadsworth FDR Boardwalk and Beach Freshkills Gaeta Great Kills Graniteville Quarry Graniteville Swamp Hero High Rock\| Hoffman Island Huguenot Ponds Hybrid Oak Woods Ingram Woods Isle of Meadows Jones Woods Joseph Manna King Fisher Kingdom Pond Last Chance LaTourette Lemon Creek Long Pond Gen. MacArthur Maple Woods Mariners Marsh Meredith Woods Midland Beach Midland Field Miller Field Mount Loretto Unique Area New Dorp Beach New York Chinese Scholar's Garden Northerleigh Park Ocean Breeze Old Place Creek Olmstead-Beil House Prall's Island Reed's Basket WIllow Swamp Richmond Terrace Wetlands Saw Mill Creek Marsh Schmul Seaside Wildlife Nature Shooters Island Siedenburg Silver Lake Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden Sobel Court South Beach Wetlands St. George Staten Island Greenbelt Staten Island Industrial Swinburne Island Tappen Tompkinsville Tottenville Shore Von Briesen Walker Wegener Westerleigh Westwood William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge Willowbrook Wolfe's Pond

Other

Nature centers	Alley Pond Belvedere Castle Blue Heron Crotona Dana Discovery Center Forest Fort Greene Fort Totten Greenbelt High Rock Inwood Hill Orchard Beach Prospect Salt Marsh Van Cortlandt

Zoos	Bronx Central Park Prospect Queens Staten Island

Botanical Gardens	Brooklyn Botanic Conservatory New York Botanical Queens Botanical Staten Island Botanical New York Chinese Scholar's Wave Hill

Roosevelt Island	Lighthouse Southpoint

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, February 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

See also

References

External links