Pelican Island

Tiny but tenacious, America’s first wildlife refuge battles back

By Mary Kelley Hoppe
Summer 2004

Blink and you might miss this small but mighty spit of land that is the birthplace of America’s national wildlife refuge system.

Nestled in the Indian River Lagoon just north of Vero Beach, Pelican Island gives no hint of the epic battles waged here. The ancient rookery has survived numerous assaults, while providing safe haven to scores of birds that nest and loaf in its mangrove branches.

More than a century ago, rifle shots pierced the air as plume hunters slaughtered birds to feed a fashion industry’s insatiable appetite for hat feathers. Milliners paid top dollar for the plumes of great blue herons, snowy egrets, roseate spoonbills and brown pelicans – nearly decimating some populations. Locals witnessed the killing of 60 spoonbills a day on Pelican Island before a young German immigrant arrived on the scene in 1881.

Shotgun Diplomacy

Boat builder Paul Kroegel took an active interest in the birds, watching over the island from his homestead on Barker’s Bluff. Kroegel flew an American flag off his dock. It was customary for passing boats to toot their horn, a signal Kroegel used to spot poachers. He greeted trespassers, shotgun in hand, and got them to move on.

The plight of the birds also caught the attention of some of the country’s most influential naturalists who frequented nearby Oak Lodge, a popular gathering spot for scientists and writers. Among them was ornithologist Frank Chapman, curator of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, who struck up a friendship with Kroegel.

When he discovered that Pelican Island was one of the last breeding grounds for brown pelicans on Florida’s east coast, Chapman pledged his support to protect the birds. In 1901, the Lacy Act became the first federal law to protect birds and other wildlife from illegal interstate commerce. A year later, the Florida Audubon Society and the American Ornithologist’s Union, of which Chapman was a member, waged a successful campaign to pass legislation in Florida protecting non-game birds.

But it was a direct appeal to an old acquaintance, President Theodore Roosevelt, that catapulted the tiny bird sanctuary onto the national stage. Chapman and fellow wildlife conservationist William Dutcher visited Roosevelt at his home in Sagamore Hill, New York to push for greater protection.

For Wildlife’s Sake

On March 14, 1903, with a stroke of his executive pen, Roosevelt declared Pelican Island a federal bird reservation marking the first time the federal government set aside land for wildlife and establishing what would become the national wildlife refuge system.

Kroegel became the first national wildlife refuge manager, overseeing Pelican Island for $1 a month from the Florida Audubon Society. Of four wardens hired by Florida Audubon to protect birds from hunters, two were killed in the line of duty.

Other battles loomed. In the early 20th century, market fishermen blamed pelicans for eating too much fish and competing with them for a dwindling fishery. The spurious claims, later disproved by Audubon, reached a fevered pitch in 1918 when more than 400 defenseless chicks were clubbed to death on Pelican Island.

In the 1960s, the plucky island resumed center stage when local citizens fought off efforts to develop surrounding wetlands and islands. The tables turned when the State of Florida agreed to expand the refuge to include 4760 acres of mangrove islands and submerged lands. Another 500 acres of buffer lands have been acquired since then, providing a link to the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge.

Torch Passes

“It’s remarkable that this little island was of such great interest to these people,” says Refuge Manager Paul Tritaik.

Kroegel’s successor surveys the island from an observation deck across the water. White pelicans adorn a thicket of mangroves clutching tenaciously to the sand, while mullet leap under a clear blue sky.

The refuge survived a lapse of nearly 70 years without a manager until Tritaik – only the second to hold the post— took the helm in 1993.

Battered by boat wakes and diminished to half its original size, the island’s resoration has been a priority for Tritaik. More than 250 tons of oyster shell were airlifted and deposited around the island to stabilize the shoreline and prevent damage to sensitive grasses rimming the perimeter.

While access to Pelican Island is restricted, surrounding refuge lands are well worth the visit. Located off Highway A1A, a sand-swept ribbon of road a stone’s throw from the Atlantic surf, visitors enter the refuge on Historic Jungle Trail, the original coastal highway.

Formerly a citrus grove, the refuge once turned out some of the world’s finest grapefruit, until the market stalled and the lands were put up for sale. Invasive Brazilian pepper trees and Australian pines took over. Removing the invaders and replacing them with native plants was one of the first steps in restoring natural salt marsh, mangrove swamp and hammock communities.

Visitors today are greeted by lush expanses of green, restored wetlands and winding nature trails. A boardwalk, with planks commemorating each of the national wildlife refuges, snakes over salt marsh to an observation tower overlooking Pelican Island.

Fall heralds the return of white pelicans and waterfowl drawn by freshwater impoundments on the refuge. Brown pelicans and cormorants roost on the island year-round, but their numbers spike dramatically as winter approaches. “Literally, cormorants are flying in and circling the island because every branch is taken,” says ranger Joanna Taylor. “It’s like a magnetic attraction,” she adds.

“You get a much more intimate feeling of what the island is all about from the water, but the trails and board-walk on the refuge give you a sense that it’s much more than just an island,” Taylor says.

“This is the place where it all began.”

Getting there: From Tampa, take Highway 60 east across the state to Vero Beach. Turn left on Highway A1A. The entrance to Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge is approximately 4 miles north.

To learn more about Pelican Island and America’s national wildlife refuges, visit www.fws.gov and pelicanisland.fws.gov