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Rob
Jess
Refuge Manager
J.N. "Ding" Darling
NWR Complex
1 Wildlife Drive
Sanibel, FL 33957
(941) 472-1100
FAX: (941) 472-4061
E-mail: dingdarling@fws.gov
Directions
to Refuge
Fact
Sheet
General
Brochure
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 Refuge
Facts:
- Established: 1920.
- Acres: 40.
- Location: the refuge is
located adjacent to interstate 75 on the Caloosahatchee River in Lee
County within the city of Ft. Myers, FL.
- Administered as part of
the J. N. “Ding” Darling
National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
Natural History:
- The refuge consists of several
mangrove islands covered with a variety of fresh and brackish water
vegetation. Upland vegetation includes cabbage palms, sea grapes, and
an assortment of other subtropical plants. Wetland habitat consists
primarily of mangrove forest-red, black and white mangroves.
- Mangroves act as fish nurseries
that attract foraging water birds. Mangroves also provide feeding, loafing,
and roosting habitat for shorebirds, gulls, terns, pelicans, cormorants,
and other water birds.
- The refuge is located adjacent
to the Florida Power and Light Company’s Orange River Power Plant. The
warm water out-flow from the power plant is a major wintering area for
the endangered West Indian manatee.
Refuge Objectives:
- To protect and provide suitable
habitat for endangered and threatened species including the West Indian
manatee, wood stork, eastern indigo snake, American crocodile, and bald
eagle.
- To implement sound wildlife
management techniques to provide feeding, nesting, and roosting habitat
for a wide diversity of shore birds, wading birds, waterfowl, raptors,
and neo-tropical migratory species.
- To provide wildlife oriented
recreation compatible with the purposes for which the refuge was established.
Management Tools:
- Law enforcement.
- Wildlife population surveys.
- Partnerships.
- Education/interpretation.
- Chemical and mechanical
control of invasive exotic plants.
Public Use Opportunities:
- Fresh and salt water fishing.
- Wildlife photography.
- Canoeing and kayaking.
- Manatee viewing area adjacent
to the refuge. (Partnership with Lee County Manatee Park).
- Boat access only.
Questions and Answers
Where is Caloosahatchee
NWR?
Caloosahatchee National
Wildlife Refuge is located in Fort Myers, beneath the I-75 Caloosahatchee
Bridge. The refuge includes three islands and is 40 acres in size. The
original refuge boundary has been lost due to channelization of the river
and deposition of dredged spoil upon the islands. The nearest population
center is the City of Fort Myers, located seven miles to the west.
How do I get there?
Access to the islands that makeup the Caloosahatchee NWR is
by boat only. Boaters should consult navigational charts and tide schedules
before attempting to visit any of the refuge islands. Boaters should note
that seasonal boat speed restriction zones are strictly enforced for the
protection of the West Indian manatees that frequent the Caloosahatchee
and Orange rivers.
Where is the refuge closed to public uses?
The Caloosahatchee NWR receives little public use. Access onto
the refuge is difficult in the mangrove areas and there are no boat docking
and mooring facilities. Occasionally, boaters visit one of the islands
with uplands but mosquitoes are usually so numerous that visiting the
islands are extremely uncomfortable.
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