Egmont Key Needs Your Help!

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Egmont Key is both a national wildlife refuge and state park. This important island is under threat from multiple issues.

WHY IS EGMONT KEY IMPORTANT?

Egmont Key is both a national wildlife refuge and state park and is the largest wildlife refuge island in Tampa Bay. Each summer the island is home for up to 30,000 pairs of nesting birds, including gulls, terns, pelicans, skimmers, ibis, and osprey. The island is of great importance to sea turtle populations and is a Designated Index Loggerhead Nesting Beach. A large, isolated population of Gopher tortoises, a state-listed threatened species, make their home on the interior parts of the island.

The cultural and historical resources on the island include the Egmont Key Lighthouse and the extensive remains of Fort Dade. Fort Dade’s historic resources are washing away. Two of the five gun batteries have washed into the sea and are now 100 yards offshore. Of the remaining batteries three are surf damaged and quickly eroding.

Egmont Key is the most visited destination by recreational boaters in the Tampa Bay area and hosts approximately 234,000 visitors annually. This tourism directly supports 281 local jobs and contributes $20 million to the local economy each year. 

EROSION IS THREATENING THE FUTURE OF EGMONT KEY 

Egmont Key is rapidly shrinking. Since 1942, the island has lost nearly 50% of its land mass to erosion and sea level rise; 535 acres dwindled to a little over 200 acres now. The island is shrinking rapidly and without action is very much in danger of being split in two after a few more large storms. This is alarming.

Rising seas bring ever higher high tides, passing boat wakes accelerate beach erosion, and seasonal storms take their toll on the entire island. Sadly, erosion has already claimed too much of the beachfront that many wildlife species need to survive. Historical structures dating back to the Spanish-American War are also being lost forever. 

There is hope on the horizon. The US Army Corps of Engineers’ Tampa Harbor Navigation Improvement Project presents a unique opportunity to secure Egmont's future for years to come. The Harbor Project will deepen and widen Tampa Bay’s shipping channels over a three-year period, generating a significant amount of material, some of which will be used to restore and stabilize Egmont Key.  The pre-construction engineering and design phase will be completed in 2026 and construction should begin shortly thereafter. Added sand will greatly increase the size of the beaches on the Gulf side of the island, and provide much needed beach space for nesting shorebirds, and sea turtles. The project includes the construction and planting significant dunes, and the shoring up the historic structures currently being undermined by erosion.

WHAT CAN I DO?

The Friends of the Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuges support the Tampa Harbor Navigational Improvement Project. Let people know this project is important for the future of Egmont Key. For more information on this see https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Tampa-Harbor/

 
FEDERAL FUNDING FOR EGMONT KEY NWR

The National Wildlife Refuge system has been chronically underfunded for the last 15 years. During that time NWR staff have been doing more with less, and less, and less. The Tampa Bay Refuges are managed as a complex along with Crystal River and Chassahowitzka NWRs, Normal staffing for these five refuges is around twelve employees. Recent Department of Interior staffing cuts will have reduced the complex staff to about ½ of normal. This is not a sustainable or practical way to manage our national wildlife refuge system. This chronic underfunding and staff reduction is effectively attempting to disable the system that was first established in 1903. 

WHAT CAN I DO?

It is simple, please contact your U.S. Congressional Representative and U.S. Senators and let them know you support the National Wildlife Refuge System and our local refuges. Encourage them to support full funding and staffing for our national wildlife refuge system. A good way to do this through the National Wildlife Refuge Association https://www.refugeassociation.org/action-center 

To contact your federal congressional representative start here; https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

For U.S. senators start here;

https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

A COMMITTED STATE PARK

Egmont Key is both a national wildlife refuge and state park. For the last 30 years the Florida Park Service has worked hand in hand with USFWS to manage visitor use and protect wildlife on Egmont Key. This has been a very successful and productive partnership. Wildlife nesting numbers have soared since 1990, primarily due to the dedicated work of both public agencies. It is important that the Florida Park Service remains a strong working partner on Egmont Key, without this our wildlife is in danger. The Friends of Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuges fully supports a continued full commitment by FPS to their work on Egmont Key.

WHAT CAN I DO? 

Contact the Florida Park Service and your Florida state representatives and let them know that Egmont Key State Park is important to you, and a full commitment by FPS is necessary to protect the island. 

For Florida Park Service start here;

FSP.Feedback@FloridaDEP.gov

For Florida state representatives and senators start here;

https://housedocs.myfloridahouse.gov/FindYourRepresentative

https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/