Chassahowitzka Wilderness

In 1976 the Chassahowitzka Wilderness became part of the now over 110 million acre National Wilderness Preservation System. In the language of the Seminole Indians, Chassahowitzka means "Hanging Pumpkin," although no one seems to remember just how this region earned that moniker. Regardless, Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 30,500 acres of mangrove islands, saltwater bays, estuaries, and brackish marshes, fringed with an oak-cypress-cedar hardwood swamp on the eastern side. Except for a northeastern portion, the entire refuge is designated Wilderness. The Homosassa River runs through the northern Wilderness, while the Chassahowitzka River marks the uppermost boundary of the southern Wilderness. Originally established for the benefit of waterfowl, the area now provides critical habitat to a diversity of wildlife, including endangered species such as the West Indian manatee and whooping crane. The tidal bays, rivers, and creeks of Chassahowitzka NWR provide summer habitat for the West Indian manatee. These gentle aquatic mammals consume 10 to 15 percent of their body weight each day. With some animals exceeding 1,000 pounds, the abundance growth of musk grass in Chassahowitzka's shallow bays provides an important food source for manatees. While manatees frequent the refuge most often during the summer months, whooping cranes can only be seen on the refuge during the winter months. An experimental migratory population of whooping cranes has been migrating to the refuge to winter in the saltmarsh since 2001.