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1 ' 1 . 0 PURPOSE AND NEED FOR ACTION The Florida Department of Environmental Protection ( DEP ) and the U . S . Fish and ' Wildlife Service ( FWS , the Service) propose to restore 158 acres of land on Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge ( NWR) from current and former citrus groves back to ' native vegetation habitats , including upland freshwater habitats , and tidal wetland habitats . ' The purpose of this proposal is to : ( 1 ) provide a buffer of native habitats for the wildlife utilizing Pelican Island ; (2 ) restore natural community habitats for the direct benefit of wildlife ; ( 3 ) restore the upland water table to historic , natural conditions ; (4) restore the ' flow and function of tidal wetlands ; (5 ) contribute to providing a natural community link between Pelican Island NWR and Archie Carr NWR ; and (6 ) enhance educational and recreational opportunities . 1 . 1 Introduction Pelican Island NWR is located on the east coast of Florida , and is part of the Indian River Lagoon ecosystem ( Figure 1 ) . As our country's first national wildlife refuge , ' Pelican Island started as a 5 . 5 acre island , set aside " as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds " by executive order of President Theodore Roosevelt on March 14 , 1903 . The Refuge has since grown to over 5 , 200 acres through a long and ' complicated acquisition history ( Figure 2 ) . These acquisitions have been realized through the cooperative effort of many individuals , groups , organizations , and levels of government . Although approximately 5 , 236 acres are managed by the Service as the ' wildlife refuge , only about 211 acres are directly owned by FWS . The remaining land has various ownerships whereby FWS manages the lands through leases , easements , and agreements . A majority of the area being proposed for the restoration project is federal ) owned 1 Y 9P P P 1 Y ( Figure 3) , however some lands within and adjacent to the project area are owned by others or have been donated to the government ( Figure 4) . These partnerships have resulted in a net financial cost to the other organizations . Following is a brief acquisition history of the proposed restoration project area and some of the adjacent properties . Falling predominantly within the proposed restoration area are 37 . 5 acres that the Bureau of Land Management ( BLM ) withdrew for 40 years to be managed by FWS (on ' September 12 , 1979) . In its first acquisition from a private landowner (Thomas Kennedy , et al . ) the FWS acquired 6 . 92 acres on December 21 , 1990 . On March 21 , 1991 , FWS acquired 6 . 96 acres from Josephine Leiser. The Service obtained 10 acres ' from Mary Van Anderson Surman (agreement to purchase signed February 13 , 1992 ) , The Trust for Public Land sold 19 . 69 acres that were formerly owned by Mary Surman to FWS on January 11 , 1994 . On October 17 , 1995 , the Trust for Public Land sold 36 . 35 acres that they had acquired from Ken Kennedy . FWS bought 12 . 21 acres and Indian River County purchased the remaining 24 . 14 acres for $ 100 , 000 . Indian River