J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge

United States National Wildlife Refuge in Florida

J.N. 'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Birds at the refuge, including shorebirds, American white pelicans, and roseate spoonbills
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Location	Lee County, Florida, United States
Nearest city	Sanibel, Florida
Coordinates	26°27′30″N 82°06′00″W / 26.45833°N 82.10000°W / 26.45833; -82.10000
Area	5200 acres (21 km)
Established	1976
Named for	Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling
Governing body	US Fish & Wildlife Service
Website	J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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.

History and description

The 5200 acre (21 km) refuge was established in 1945, to protect one of the country's largest undeveloped mangrove ecosystems.

The J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge Complex consists of the following: the Darling Refuge itself, and the Caloosahatchee, Island Bay, Matlacha, and Pine Island National Wildlife Refuges.

The northern section of the refuge is in the J.N. Ding Darling Wilderness, which was created in 1976 and currently protects 2,619 acres (1,060 ha) or 41% of the refuge.

The refuge is well known for its migratory bird populations and birdwatching opportunities. It also home to raccoons, bobcats, river otters, alligators, and marsh rabbits.

Climate impacts

Hurricane Charley struck the refuge on August 13, 2004, causing major changes to the topography and ecology.

Sea level rise has increased beach erosion on the barrier islands which protect Ding Darling's manatee habitat. Rising temperatures are increasing the ratio of female hatchlings of Ding Darling's endangered Florida loggerhead turtle population. The refuge's American alligator population is decreasing, due to increased salinity and a reduction of the freshwater flow in its mangroves.

References

"Partnerships - J.N. Ding Darling - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service". www.fws.gov. Archived from the original on March 29, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
""Ding" Darling Wildlife Society". dingdarlingsociety.org. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
^ "J.N. "Ding" Darling Wilderness". Wilderness.net. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
^ Defenders of Wildlife (2020). "Climate Change and J.N. "Ding" Darling NWR". LandScope America. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
"Wildlife and habitat damage assessment from Hurricane Charley: recommendations for recovery of the J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge Complex. [Final report to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]". Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2022.

External links

Media related to Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge at Wikimedia Commons
J.N. 'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
'Ding' Darling Wildlife Society
J.N. 'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge Archived 2006-06-18 at the Wayback Machine at J. N. 'Ding' Darling Foundation
J.N. 'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine at Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
J.N. 'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge at Gorp.com
Editorial Cartoons of J.N. "Ding" Darling

Protected areas of Florida

Federal level

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
National wildlife refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands
Other national protected areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
National Marine Sanctuaries	Florida Keys Key Largo (1975–1990) Looe Key (1981–1990)
National Estuarine Research Reserves	Apalachicola NERR Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Loxahatchee River Wekiva River

State level

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier–Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson 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 Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Price's Scrub Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Marks River St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef
Botanical garden parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks
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 Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Three Rivers Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Troy Spring Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs
Recreation areas	Dead Lakes Gamble Rogers Memorial
Museums, historic sites, and archaeological sites	Addison Blockhouse Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie 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 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-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater
Preserves and reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Disney Wilderness Estero Bay Green Cay Wetlands Fakahatchee Strand 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	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Jacksonville-Baldwin Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee
State forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. 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

Local level

Preserves and reserves	Boyd Hill Gumbo Limbo Moccasin Lake

v t e National Wildlife Refuges of the United States
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National Wildlife Refuges of the United States

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