Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge

Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)

Location	Volusia / Lake counties, Florida, United States
Nearest city	DeLeon Springs, Florida
Coordinates	29°05′N 81°26′W / 29.083°N 81.433°W / 29.083; -81.433Coordinates: 29°05′N 81°26′W / 29.083°N 81.433°W / 29.083; -81.433
Area	21,574 acres (87 km²)
Established	1964
Governing body	US Fish & Wildlife Service

The Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System, located in north central Florida, twenty-five miles west of Daytona Beach, off U.S. Highway 17 in DeLeon Springs.

Description

The refuge was opened in 1964 in order for both migrating and wintering birds to have habitats.^[1] In 1982, the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center reported that the refuge included 18,400 acres of water.^[2] The refuge currently has over 30,000 acres of water, which includes marshes and swamps. Activities for visitors include boating, hiking, and wildlife viewing. Bodies of water are managed so that only desired plants grow. Law enforcement officials are present in order to protect the animals and plants.^[1] Touring by boat is the only way to explore a large part of the refuge.^[2]

The Lake Woodruff Wilderness Area is part of the refuge, and consists of 1,066 acres (4.31 km²) or 4.9% of the Refuge's total area. Alligators, bald eagles, and limpkins are among the wildlife that can be found in the area. Deer hunting is allowed, but the hunting is managed.^[3]

Development

When the land was bought in 1964, the management did not have the money to help the wildlife. They did not have much money left after paying salaries. With a large donation of money in 1979, the managers were able to start working on the important projects that they were unable to do before. It wasn't until 1979 that the number of fishermen, who had been few, tripled. Projects that were funded through the donation included regulating the amount of water, improving hiking trails, and doing more to protect the wildlife such as the bald eagles and ospreys.^[4]

Wildlife

215 species of birds, including species that are threatened or endangered, can be found in the refuge. A 2011 article from the journal Southeastern Naturalist documented 22 species of amphibian and 50 species of reptiles that researchers found within the refuge. The report concluded that the refuge's census of species, will help people understand the changes in amount of species within the Florida ecosystem.^[5] Bodies of water are set aside for manatees to breed. The refuge's volunteers document the amount of wildlife and restore their habitats, according to current needs.^[6]

Many ducks nest in the refuge during the winter. A drought in 1988 affected the nests of ducks that migrate to the refuge. The extent of aquatic plants for ducks, at minimum, is 450 acres.^[7]

Wildlife gallery

Great blue heron
Gopher turtle (Gopherus polyphemus)
Snowy egret (Egretta thula)
Young alligator at Audubon Lookout

References

1 2 "Overview". Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
1 2 "Bird Checklists of the United States". Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1982. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
↑ "National Wildlife Refuges". Great Outdoor Recreation Pages. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
↑ Harris, Eric (July 27, 1979). "Wildlife Refuge Project To Begin". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
↑ M. Farrell, Terence; A. Pilgrim, Melissa; G. May, Peter; Boyd Blihovde, W. (2011). "The Herpetofauna of Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, Florida". Southern Naturalist (Eagle Hill Institute) 10 (4): 647–658. doi:10.1656/058.010.0405. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
↑ K. Brodowsky, Pamela (2010). Ecotourists Save the World. Penguin. ISBN 9781101186596. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
↑ "Drought may endanger lake's migrating ducks". The News-Journal. June 18, 1988. Retrieved July 2, 2013.

External links

Official Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge homepage

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge.

Protected areas of Florida

Federal

National Parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades

National Memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline

National Monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas

National Seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands

National Forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola

National Wildlife Refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands

Other National Protected Areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

National Estuarine Research Reserves and National Marine Sanctuaries	Apalachicola NERR Florida Keys NMS Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR

State

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier-Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef John U. Lloyd Beach Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef

Botanical Garden Parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks

Lakes, Rivers and Springs Parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Three Rivers Troy Springs Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs

Recreation Areas	Gamble Rogers Memorial

Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites	Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater

Preserves and Reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Estero Bay Fakahatchee Strand Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh

State Trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee

State Forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Other

Nature centers	List of nature centers in Florida

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

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