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Introduction

The United States Congress designated the Passage Key Wilderness (map) in 1970 and it now has a total of 36 acres. All of this wilderness is located in Florida and is managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Description

A violent hurricane swept through this area in 1920, transforming Passage Key, a mangrove island containing a freshwater lake, into a meandering, slightly vegetated sandbar. One of three refuges comprising the Tampa Bay Refuges, Passage Key stands at the mouth of Tampa Bay, where it faces the full force of storms off the Gulf of Mexico. In the last few years, erosion has erased most of the island. At low tide, small portions of the island will still occasionally rise above the waterline.

This one island represented Tampa Bay's last remaining nesting site for laughing gulls, black skimmers, and royal terns. However, with no more land being above water on a regular basis, there is no more bird breeding on the island. Easily accessible by boat from the Tampa/Saint Petersburg Metropolitan sprawl, Passage Key has been inundated with humans to the point where the island had to be closed to all visitation. You must observe the key from a distance of at least 200 feet.

Closed Wilderness Areas

Eleven of the National Wilderness Preservation System's 758 wilderness areas are closed to access and use by the general public. All these closed areas are managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service, except the Mesa Verde Wilderness. The core mission of the Service's National Wildlife Refuge System is conservation of native fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats. The Passage Key Wilderness, part of the Passage Key National Wildlife Refuge, is closed to visitation to protect wildlife and other natural, cultural, and/or other resources consistent with the conservation purpose(s) of the refuge. Wilderness designation provides an additional level of protection for the wilderness portion of this refuge, but does not open the area to public access or use.