Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge

Refuges deploy a host of scientifically sound management tools to address biological challenges. These tools span active water management to wilderness character monitoring, all aimed at ensuring a balanced conservation approach to benefit both wildlife and people.  At this field station our conservation tool box includes: 

Refuges deploy a host of scientifically sound management tools to address biological challenges. These tools span active water management to wilderness character monitoring, all aimed at ensuring a balanced conservation approach to benefit both wildlife and people.  At this field station our conservation tool box includes: 

Planning – Comprehensive Conservation Plan - Refuge conservation plans are called “comprehensive conservation plans” (CCPs). The purpose of a CCP is to specify a management direction for the Refuge for the next 15 years. The goals, objectives, and strategies for improving Refuge conditions—including the types of habitat we will provide, partnership opportunities, and management actions needed to achieve desired conditions – are described in the CCP. The Service’s preferred alternative for managing the Refuge and its effects on the human environment are described in the CCP as well. 

Habitat Management - Erosion is an ever-present concern. In fact, the greatest threat to Egmont Key is the loss of habitat due to erosion of sand mainly on the west beach. In the1850's a survey estimated the land area of Egmont to be approximately 580 acres. Currently, Egmont is about 250 acres. Batteries Page and Burchstead which once had 100 yards of sand in front of them, now are 100 yards off-shore and are snorkel/dive sites. 

Education & Outreach - The future of refuges and their wildlife is, in large part, dependent on our youth and their understanding of sustainability and conservation. The Friends of the Tampa Bay Refuges provide funding for school busses for Pinellas County Title 1 schools 4-5th grades to go to Environmental Lands. For more information contact Friends@TampaBayRefuges.org 

Fire Management - Prescribed fire or prescribed burning is wildland fire that is planned, ignited, and managed by professional fire managers. Managed fire is used to reduce wildfire risks and benefit natural resources by thinning overgrown vegetation. A prescribed burn prescribed burn
A prescribed burn is the controlled use of fire to restore wildlife habitat, reduce wildfire risk, or achieve other habitat management goals. We have been using prescribed burn techniques to improve species habitat since the 1930s.

Learn more about prescribed burn plan is written well in advance of each planned event and must be approved by agency managers prior to any ignition. A prescribed fire is only allowed under specific conditions, depending upon available resources, time of year, weather, and desired results. 

Fire has played a key role in the island’s history, and controlled fire can be used to manage the island’s habitats to benefit wildlife and to protect island facilities. A system of regularly scheduled prescribed burns every 5 to 10 years will control natural succession to maintain sea oats. Also, upland habitats infested with exotic plant species will be prescribed burned as needed to control plant regeneration and remove dead biomass. 

Egmont Key NWR is located within the undisputed lightning capital of North America. The coastal scrub that was the original habitat land cover on the island is very pyrogenic and undoubtedly burned frequently. Fires, both natural and human caused, were rampant on the island during settlement years. A large fire was recorded in September 1891, when a coal shed spontaneously combusted near the lighthouse. The Keeper and his family had to flee to the mainland until fire suppression support arrived 3 days later.  

Since the abandonment of Fort Dade in 1923, wildfires from arson and lightning have swept the island on a few occasions. A large fire occurred on April 25, 1925, when federal agents started grass fires to smoke out smugglers and illegal immigrants. This fire destroyed eight homes, a coal storage facility, and the large ice house / power plant. In 1975, a lightning-caused fire swept across most of the island and consumed the remaining combustible materials left from Fort Dade. The fire destroyed much of the lower shrub understory and killed several palm trees. In recent years, there have been several small wildfires. Three of them were on the southern end of the refuge in the vicinity of the pilot compound and may have posed a serious threat to the facilities there. An arson fire in 1995 destroyed the tile roof and consumed all flammable materials from the Egmont Key Guard House, which was the last intact structure structure
Something temporarily or permanently constructed, built, or placed; and constructed of natural or manufactured parts including, but not limited to, a building, shed, cabin, porch, bridge, walkway, stair steps, sign, landing, platform, dock, rack, fence, telecommunication device, antennae, fish cleaning table, satellite dish/mount, or well head.

Learn more about structure from that period. 

Invasive Species - Species such as the Brazilian pepper and the Australian pine, are actively monitored invasive plant species, which are properly treated on Egmont Key NWR. Both plants have become pervasive and have altered and replaced the natural hammock community habitats. 

Inventory and Monitoring 

Bird Surveys - Refuge staff monitors the beach-nesting bird populations monthly by recording numbers of nesting pairs, spring and fall migrants, and wintering birds. Refuge staff members follow Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's (FWC) Breeding Bird Protocol (numbers and locations of nesting pairs) and FWC's Monitoring Protocol for Non-Breeding Shorebirds and Seabirds (numbers and locations). Data is entered into the Florida Shorebird Database. Approximately 40,000 pairs of beach-nesting birds are recorded annually. 

Sea Turtle Nesting - Sea turtle nests are documented according to FWC's protocol for monitoring Florida Index Nesting Beaches. Thirty to 70 loggerhead sea turtles nest annually on Egmont Key. 

Recreation Management - All fishing activities fall under the jurisdiction of the Florida Wildlife Commission. More information can be found here: The refuge offers recreational opportunities such as photography, wildlife viewing, interpretation, beach access, shell collecting, and historical information.