The Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States

National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to ...

(NWR) System, located in Kings Bay, in the town of Crystal River, and consists of 20 islands and several small parcels of land. The refuge (only accessible by boat) was established in 1983, to protect the

West Indian manatee The West Indian manatee (''Trichechus manatus''), also known as the North American manatee, is a large, aquatic mammal native to warm coastal areas of the Caribbean, from the eastern US to northern Brazil. Living alone or in herds, it feeds on un ...

Management

The Crystal River NWR administration was changed from the

Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge The Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System, located on the west coast of Florida, about north of St. Petersburg. It is famous as the southern wintering site for the re-introduced eas ...

Complex to the ''Crystal River Complex'' headquartered in

Crystal River, Florida Crystal River is a city in Citrus County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,108 in the 2010 census. According to the U.S. Census estimates of 2018, the city had a population of 3,162. The city was incorporated in 1903 and is the self p ...

. The complex manages ''Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge'',

Crystal River Preserve State Park Crystal River Preserve State Park is a Florida State Park, originally known as the Crystal River Buffer Preserve. The Preserve comprises 27,500 acres of salt marsh, tidal creeks, mangrove islands, hardwood forests, coastal scrub and pine fla ...

, as well as the three 'Tampa Bay Refuges'; Egmont Key NWR,

Passage Key NWR The Passage Key National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System, located offshore from St. Petersburg. The refuge was established in 1905 by President Theodore Roosevelt to preserve nesting colonies of ...

, and the

Pinellas NWR The Pinellas National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System, located offshore from mainland St. Petersburg, Florida, and only accessible by boat. The refuge was established in 1951, to act as a breed ...

.Crystal River Complex
Retrieved 2017-12-26 Crystal River NWR

References

External links

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Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge
Protected areas of Citrus County, Florida National Wildlife Refuges in Florida Protected areas established in 1983 {{CitrusCountyFL-geo-stub