The Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States

National Wildlife Refuge The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) is a system of protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the United States Department of the Interior, Department of the Interi ...

System, located on the west coast of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, about north of

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. It is famous as the southern wintering site for the re-introduced eastern population of

whooping crane The whooping crane (''Grus americana'') is an endangered Crane (bird), crane species, native to North America, named for its "whooping" calls. Along with the sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis''), it is one of only two crane species native to ...

s. The Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge Complex was changed to the Crystal River Complex, headquartered at

Crystal River, Florida Crystal River is a city in Citrus County, Florida, Citrus County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,396 in the 2020 census, up from 3,108 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Homosassa Springs, Florida Citrus County, Florida, Metrop ...

, and consists of portions of the

Chassahowitzka River The Chassahowitzka River is a spring-fed river located in southwestern Citrus County, Florida. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 18, 2011 river is home to hun ...

and Crystal River, as well as what are known as the Tampa Bay Refuges:

Egmont Key Egmont may refer to: * Egmont Group, a media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark * Egmond family (often spelled "Egmont"), an influential Dutch family, lords of the town of Egmond ** Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1522–1568), the bes ...

, Passage Key and Pinellas. The Chassahowitzka Wilderness consists of or 76.4% of its total area. Only a portion in the northeast is not designated as

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...

. In 2001, the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership raised

(''Grus americana'') chicks in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Necedah National Wildlife Refuge Necedah National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located in northern Juneau County, Wisconsin near the village of Necedah. It was established in 1939 and is famous as the northern nesting site for reintroduction of an eastern U ...

then guided them to the Chassahowitzka NWR for the winter. Despite severe mortality from hurricanes in 2007, the re-introduction has been successful and by 2010 there were up to 105 migrating birds established in the eastern United States for the first time in over 100 years.

References

External links

*
Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge
Official site
Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge
at Friends of Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge Complex

at Gorp.com

at National Wildlife Refuge Association Protected areas of Citrus County, Florida Protected areas of Hernando County, Florida IUCN Category Ib National Wildlife Refuges in Florida Protected areas established in 1941 1941 establishments in Florida {{CitrusCountyFL-geo-stub

See also

References

External links