Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is a

wildlife refuge A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

managed by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

as part of

Gateway National Recreation Area Gateway National Recreation Area is a U.S. National Recreation Area in New York City and Monmouth County, New Jersey. It provides recreational opportunities that are not commonly found in a dense urban environment, including ocean swimming, bi ...

. It is composed of the open water and

intertidal The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of Marine habitat, habitats with var ...

salt marshes A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

Jamaica Bay Jamaica Bay is an estuary on the southern portion of the western tip of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The estuary is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with Lower New York Bay to the west, ...

. It lies entirely within the boundaries of New York City, divided between the

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

to the west and

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

to the east.

Description

JAMAICA BAY WILDLIFE REFUGE - NARA - 547853

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge consists of several islands in Jamaica Bay, located in both Brooklyn and Queens. The Queens portion is located near

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Ne ...

, which was built upon a portion of the

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

in Jamaica Bay. In April 1942, the City of New York started placing hydraulic fill over the marshy tidelands of the area. JFK International Airport is now the sixth busiest airport in the United States, and the aviation traffic may pose some serious noise pollutant threats to the surrounding environment. The refuge provides habitat for a wide variety of

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

, both marine and terrestrial. With resident and migratory birds, it is a prime location for

birding in New York City New York City is home to a large birding community and diverse range of bird species. Though it is the most populous and most densely populated city in the United States, NYC is home to a range of ecological habitats and is situated along t ...

. Other animal activities include

diamondback terrapin The diamondback terrapin or simply terrapin (''Malaclemys terrapin'') is a species of turtle native to the brackish coastal tidal marshes of the Northeastern and southern United States, and in Bermuda. It belongs to the monotypic genus ''Malaclem ...

egg-laying and

horseshoe crab Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only living members of the order Xiphosura. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or crustaceans: they are chelicerates, most closely related to arachn ...

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. Ospreys, which were at one time endangered due to the pesticide DDT, have regularly nested in the refuge since 1991. They are currently being captured, tagged and studied in the Wildlife Refuge to help scientists better understand the birds' habits. Small mammals such as eastern gray squirrels and

raccoons The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of . ...

are also present in the area. The recently increased raccoon population, however, has developed a taste for diamondback terrapin eggs, and many nests are often destroyed only 24 hours after being laid. Diamondback turtle adult female

The extent of the refuge is mostly open water, but includes upland shoreline and islands with salt marsh,

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

s, brackish ponds,

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

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 The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with oth ...

. Features created under city ownership include two large freshwater ponds. A visitor center with a parking lot provides free permits to walk the trails. 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 Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

in 2012.

Preservation

As a result of climate change, the Jamaica Bay area faces effects such as salt marsh erosion, rising sea levels, and flooding. In 2012, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Secretary of the Interior

Ken Salazar Kenneth Lee Salazar (born March 2, 1955) is an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Mexico. He previously served as the 50th United States Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Ba ...

authorized the creation of the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, Inc. (JBRPC). The public-private organization was officially established in 2013, partners with the

, the

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

and the New York State Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation, and is "dedicated to improving the 10,000 acres of public parkland throughout Jamaica Bay and the Rockaway peninsula for local residents and visitors alike." Other organizations dedicated to the preservation of the bay include Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers and The American Littoral Society. In 2016, David Segal and David Hendrick released the documentary ''Saving Jamaica Bay'', narrated by actress

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...

. The film portrays the history of the national wildlife refuge and current efforts to preserve the natural landscape and wildlife.

References

* Black, Frederick R. (1981).
"Jamaica Bay: A History. Gateway National Recreation Area, New York, New Jersey"
(

PDF format Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Systems, Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, Computer hardware, ...

). ''Cultural Resource Management Study No. 3''. Denver, Colorado:

External links

nps.gov/gate
official website of the

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 {{authority control 1972 establishments in New York City Nature reserves in New York (state) Protected areas of Brooklyn Protected areas of Queens, New York National Park Service areas in New York City Gateway National Recreation Area Canarsie, Brooklyn Marine Park, Brooklyn Jamaica, Queens Rockaway, Queens Protected areas established in 1972

Description

Preservation

See also

References

External links