Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge - Mashpedia All-in-One Encyclopedia

Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Observation Platform overlooking the C-7 compartment on the Marsh Trail
Map of Florida
Location	Palm Beach County, Florida, United States
Nearest city	Boynton Beach, Florida
Coordinates	26°30′30″N 80°20′00″W / 26.50833°N 80.33333°W / 26.50833; -80.33333Coordinates: 26°30′30″N 80°20′00″W / 26.50833°N 80.33333°W / 26.50833; -80.33333
Area	147,392 acres (596.47 km²)
Established	1951 (1951)
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Official website

The 147,392-acre (596.47 km²) Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge includes the most northern remnant of the historic Everglades wetland ecosystem. Located in Palm Beach County, Florida, west of Boynton Beach, Loxahatchee is one of over 500 national wildlife refuges located throughout the United States and administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge not only preserves and protects native wildlife, but also offers compatible public recreational and educational opportunities including walking trails, a canoe trail, bike trail, boat ramps, fishing platform, observation towers, butterfly garden, and a visitor center. It is home to American Alligator, the endangered Snail Kite, and as many as 257 species of birds. As such, it has been designated a 'gateway site' for the Great Florida Birding Trail.

Not quite all of the 147,392-acre (596.47 km²) refuge is Everglades marsh habitat. A 400-acre (1.6 km²) Bald Cypress swamp is the largest remaining remnant of a cypress strand that once separated the pine flatwoods in the east from the Everglades marshes. A boardwalk into the swamp gives the visitor a chance for an up-close swamp experience without getting his or her feet wet. Hurricane Wilma damaged the refuge in October 2005, and the administration building was condemned.

Boardwalk through the swamp

Despite all of its treasures, the refuge is in serious danger of quickly becoming an exclusive haven for invasive plants, especially the Broad-leaved paper bark (Melaleuca quinquenervia) and Old World climbing fern (Lygodium microphyllum), both rapidly growing non-native species, which are quickly overgrowing the native flora and are likely not compatible with the native wildlife.

References[edit]

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

v t e Everglades

Geography and ecology Indigenous people Draining and development Restoration Everglades National Park Invasive species

People	Guy Bradley Ernest F. Coe Hamilton Disston Marjory Stoneman Douglas Arthur R. Marshall Garald G. Parker

Protected areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Biscayne National Park Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

Bodies of water	Biscayne Bay Caloosahatchie River Fisheating Creek Florida Bay Indian River Lagoon Kissimmee River Lake Okeechobee Lake Worth Lagoon Shark River St. Lucie River Taylor Slough

See also	Alligator Alley Biscayne Aquifer Burmese Pythons in Florida Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan Environmental Impact of the Big Cypress Swamp Jetport Everglades Foundation Friends of the Everglades Homestead Air Force Base South Florida Water Management District Tamiami Trail U.S. Sugar

Book:Everglades Category:Everglades Portal:Florida

Protected Areas of Florida

Federal

National Parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades

National Memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline

National Monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas

National Seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands

National Forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola

Other National Protected Areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

National Estuarine Research Reserves and National Marine Sanctuaries	Apalachicola NERR Florida Keys NMS Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR

State

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier-Seminole Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Highlands Hammock Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef John U. Lloyd Beach Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key / Carl E. Johnson Mike Roess Gold Head Branch Navarre Beach North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Ravine Gardens River Bluff Picnic Site Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. George Island St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Upper Tampa Bay Park Windley Key Fossil Reef

Botanical Garden Parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Washington Oaks State Gardens

Lakes, Rivers and Springs Parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Econfina River Guana River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Silver River Suwannee River Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Springs Manatee Springs Rainbow Springs Troy Springs Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs

Recreation Areas	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Dead Lakes Dunns Creek Gamble Rogers Memorial Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Honeymoon Island Oleta River Perdido Key Ponce de Leon Springs St. Andrews Three Rivers

Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites	Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie State Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield DeSoto Site Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Little Salt Spring Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater

Preserves and Reserves	Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Estero Bay Fakahatchee Strand Grassy Lake Hal Scott Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Tosohatchee Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh

State Trails	Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Nature Coast State Trail Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Trail Withlacoochee

State Forests	Belmore Big Shoals Public Lands Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

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