Martin County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,431. Its county seat is Stuart. Martin County is in the Port St. Lucie, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Hobe Sound is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Martin County, Florida, United States, located along Florida's Treasure Coast. The population was 13,163 at the 2020 census, up from 11,521 in 2010.
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is a 140,000-acre (57,000 ha) U.S. National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) on the Atlantic coast of Florida's largest barrier island. NASA's Kennedy Space Center and visitor complex are also situated on the island and NASA can restrict access to the refuge based on its operational needs.
Jupiter Island is a barrier island on the coast of Martin and Palm Beach counties, Florida. It is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by the St. Lucie Inlet, on the west by the Indian River, and on the south by the Jupiter Inlet. Jupiter Island originally was two islands, Long Island on the north and Jupiter Island on the south, which were once separated by an inlet in the vicinity of North Jupiter Narrows and what is officially called Peck Lake, but commonly called Peck's Lake.
The Indian River Lagoon is a grouping of three lagoons: the Mosquito Lagoon, the Banana River, and the Indian River, on the Atlantic Coast of Florida; one of the most biodiverse estuaries in the Northern Hemisphere and is home to more than 4,300 species of plants and animals.
Gulf Islands National Seashore is an American National seashore that offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. In 2023, it was the fifth-most visited unit of the National Park Service.
The Canaveral National Seashore (CANA) is a National Seashore located between New Smyrna Beach and Titusville, Florida, in Volusia and Brevard Counties. The park, located on a barrier island, was created on January 3, 1975, by an act of Congress. The park is split between Brevard and Volusia counties, with 9 miles of the seashore in Brevard County, and 15 miles of the seashore in Volusia County. CANA consists of 24 miles of beaches, dunes, mangrove wetlands, and a large portion of the Mosquito Lagoon. The Canaveral National Seashore is also the longest expanse of undeveloped land along the East Coast of Florida. The Canaveral National Seashore is home to more than 1,000 plant species and 310 bird species. CANA occupies 57,662 acres (23,335 ha). There are 3 major beach sections in the seashore. The southern section is Playalinda Beach, the middle section is Klondike Beach, and the northern section is Apollo Beach.
Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge located on North Carolina's Pea Island, a coastal barrier island and part of a chain of islands known as the Outer Banks, adjacent to Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The sanctuary is located 10 miles (16 km) south of Nags Head, North Carolina on NC 12.
The Florida Trail is one of eleven National Scenic Trails in the United States, created by the National Trails System Act of 1968. It runs 1,500 miles (2,400 km), from Big Cypress National Preserve to Fort Pickens at Gulf Islands National Seashore, Pensacola Beach. Also known as the Florida National Scenic Trail, the trail provides permanent non-motorized recreation for hiking and other compatible activities within an hour's drive of most Floridians.
The Key West National Wildlife Refuge is a 189,497 acre (766.867 km2) National Wildlife Refuge located in Monroe County, Florida, between Key West, Florida and the Dry Tortugas. Only 2,019 acres (8.171 km2) of land are above sea level, on several keys within the refuge. These keys are unpopulated and are also designated as Wilderness within the Florida Keys Wilderness. The refuge was established to provide a preserve and breeding ground for native birds and other wildlife as well as to provide habitat and protection for endangered and threatened fish, wildlife, plants and migratory birds.
The J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System, located in southwestern Florida on Sanibel Island in the Gulf of Mexico. "Ding" Darling Wildlife Society (DDWS), a non-profit Friends of the Refuge organization, supports environmental education and services at the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. It is named after the cartoonist Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling.
Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail (GFBWT) is a 2,000 mile (3200 km) long collection of more than 500 locations in the U.S. state of Florida where the state's bird habitats are protected. The trail promotes birdwatching, environmental education and ecotourism. The GFBWT is a program of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, supported in part by the Florida Department of Transportation and the Wildlife Foundation of Florida. It is modeled after the successful Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail. Trail sites area identifiable by prominent road signs bearing the Swallow-tailed kite logo.
In 1999, the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve was designated in St. Johns and Flagler counties, Florida as a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) system. The GTM Research Reserve represents the east Florida sub-region of the Carolinian bioregion. It is one of 30 NERRs in 23 states and one territory. GTM is one of three NERRs in Florida and is administered on behalf of the state by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Florida Coastal Office as part of a network that includes forty-one aquatic preserves, three NERRs, a National Marine Sanctuary, the Coral Reef Conservation Program and the Florida Oceans and Coastal Council. Additional interests are held in the research and management of the GTM and connected preserved or conserved lands including:
Environmental issues in Brevard County in Florida United States are highlighted by the amount of waterline, the amount of wetlands, the quantity of residents and visitors to the area, as well as the usual threat to air quality from commuters. Assisting in this is the Florida Space Coast Clean Cities Coalition which is headquartered in Brevard.
North Hutchinson Island is a coastal barrier island in Indian River and St. Lucie counties on the east coast of Florida. The island is adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean and is separated from the mainland on the west by the Indian River Lagoon. The portion of the island in Indian River County is known as Orchid Island.
The Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge is a 66,287 acre (267 km²) National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern South Carolina near Awendaw, South Carolina. The refuge lands and waters encompass water impoundments, creeks and bays, emergent salt marsh and barrier islands. 29,000 acres (120 km2) are designated as a wilderness area. Most of the refuge is only accessible by boat. The Intracoastal Waterway passes the Refuge. Mainland facilities include the refuge's headquarters and visitor center which are located on U.S. Highway 17 about 30 minutes by car from Charleston, South Carolina.
Nathaniel "Nat" Pryor Reed was an American environmentalist and political aide. He was Assistant Secretary of Fish, Wildlife and Parks at the United States Department of the Interior who co-wrote the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and is credited with stopping the use of DDT. He is also helped with the passage of the Clean Water Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the expansion of national parks and reserves.
The protected areas of North Carolina cover roughly 3.8 million acres, making up 11% of the total land in the state. 86.5% of this protected land is publicly owned and is managed by different federal and state level authorities and receive varying levels of protection. Some areas are managed as wilderness while others are operated with acceptable commercial exploitation. The remainder of the land is privately owned, but willingly entered into conservation easement management agreements, or are owned by various nonprofit conservation groups such as the National Audubon Society and The Nature Conservancy. North Carolina contains 1 National Park, and various other federally owned protected land including 2 National Seashores, 5 National Forests, 12 Wildlife Refuges, and the southern half of the Blue Ridge Parkway. North Carolina has an extensive state park system of 42 open units, 35 of which are state parks, 4 that are recreation areas, and 3 staffed state natural areas, along with other designated units managed by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
