Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge

ABOUT THIS PLACE

It was established in 1996 under the Arizona-Florida Land Exchange Act of 1988, which transferred the land to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The name describes what it is: a scatter of mangrove islands, too many to count properly, running down the coast between Marco Island and Everglades City. Most of the refuge is water and most of it is reachable only by boat, which is a large part of why it stays as wild as it does. Several threatened and endangered species use it, among them the Florida manatee, the peregrine falcon, the wood stork, and green, loggerhead and Kemp's ridley sea turtles. Recreational boating and fishing are treated as compatible uses rather than as intrusions. The Marsh Trail off US 41 is the way in on foot, with a path out across the wetland, and it is the one part of the refuge a visitor can reach without a boat. Everglades National Park runs its Gulf Coast boat tours through these waters