Gulf Islands National Seashore

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Gulf Islands National Seashore
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
Location	Escambia & Okaloosa counties, Florida & Jackson & Harrison counties, Mississippi, USA
Nearest city	Pensacola, FL Pascagoula, MS
Coordinates	30°21′52″N 86°58′3″W / 30.36444, -86.9675
Area	135,457.89 acres   (99,083.64 federal) 548.18 km²
Established	January 8, 1971
Visitors	1,689,400 (in 2005)
Governing body	National Park Service

Gulf Islands National Seashore offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. Islands along the Alabama coast were originally considered for inclusion, but as of 2006 none is part of the national seashore.

The Florida portion of the seashore features offshore islands with sparkling white sand beaches, historic fortifications, and nature trails. Mainland features near Pensacola, Florida, include the Naval Live Oaks Reservation, beaches, and military forts. All Florida areas are accessible by automobile.

The Mississippi portion of the seashore features sparkling beaches, historic sites, wildlife sanctuaries, islands accessible only by boat, bayous, nature trails, picnic areas, and campgrounds. The 4,080 acres Gulf Islands Wilderness offers special protection within the seashore to parts of Petit Bois and Horn Islands.

Considerable damage to public infrastructure occurred as a result of the 2004 and 2005 Atlantic hurricane seasons which has not been repaired. Visitation to the seashore dropped from 4,939,771 people in 2003 to only 1,689,400 in 2005.

Contents 1 Islands 2 Administrative history 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Islands

Principal islands in the seashore (from east to west):

• Santa Rosa Island
• Perdido Key
• Petit Bois Island
• Horn Island
• East Ship Island
• West Ship Island
• Cat Island

[edit] Administrative history

The national seashore was authorized on January 8, 1971, administered by the National Park Service. The wilderness area was designated on November 10, 1978.

[edit] See also

• List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
• Wilderness Act

[edit] External links

• Official NPS website: Gulf Islands National Seashore
• Gulf Islands Wilderness
• Gulf Islands NS at Hiker Central
• Fort Pickens and the Outbreak of the Civil War, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan

v • d • e Protected Areas of Florida National Park Service Biscayne National Park • Dry Tortugas National Park • Everglades National Park • Castillo de San Marcos National Monument • Fort Matanzas National Monument • Big Cypress National Preserve • Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve • De Soto National Memorial • Fort Caroline National Memorial • Canaveral National Seashore • Gulf Islands National Seashore National Forests Apalachicola • Choctawhatchee • Ocala • Osceola State Parks Amelia Island • Anastasia • Avalon • Bahia Honda • Bald Point • Big Lagoon • Big Talbot Island • Bill Baggs Cape Florida • Bulow Creek • Caladesi Island • Camp Helen • Cayo Costa • Collier-Seminole • Curry Hammock • Delnor-Wiggins Pass • Devil's Millhopper • Don Pedro Island • 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 • Highlands Hammock • Hontoon Island • Hugh Taylor Birch • John D. MacArthur Beach • John Pennekamp Coral Reef • John U. Lloyd Beach • Jonathan Dickinson • Little Talbot Island • Long Key • Lovers Key / Carl E. Johnson • Mike Roess Gold Head Branch • Navarre Beach • North Peninsula • O'Leno • Oscar Scherer • Ravine Gardens • River Bluff Picnic Site • Sebastian Inlet • Skyway Fishing Pier • St. George Island • St. Joseph Peninsula • Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center • Stump Pass Beach • Tomoka • Torreya • Windley Key Fossil Reef Botanical Alfred B. Maclay Gardens • Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock • Lignumvitae Key • Washington Oaks State Gardens Lakes, Rivers and Springs Deer Lake • Lake Griffin • Lake June in Winter Scrub • Lake Kissimmee • Lake Louisa • Lake Manatee • Lake Talquin • Alafia River • Blackwater River • Econfina River • Guana River • Hillsborough River • Little Manatee River • Myakka River • Ochlockonee River • Silver River • Suwannee River • Blue Spring • De Leon Springs • Edward Ball Wakulla Springs • Fanning Springs • Homosassa Springs Wildlife • Ichetucknee Springs • Lafayette Blue Springs • Madison Blue Springs • Manatee Springs • Peacock Springs • Rainbow Springs • Troy Springs • Wekiwa Springs • Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Recreation areas Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek • Dead Lakes • Dunns Creek • Gamble Rogers Memorial • Grayton Beach • Henderson Beach • Honeymoon Island • Oleta River • Perdido Key • Ponce de Leon Springs • St. Andrews • Three Rivers Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites Cedar Key Museum • Constitution Convention Museum • Forest Capital Museum • John Gorrie State 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 Mounds • Madira Bickel Mound • Mound Key • San Pedro Underwater Preserves and reserves Anclote Key • Cedar Key Scrub • Charlotte Harbor • Crystal River • Estero Bay • Fakahatchee Strand • 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 Trails Gainesville-Hawthorne • General James A. Van Fleet • Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Trail • Withlacoochee State Forests Belmore • Big Shoals Public Lands • Blackwater River • Carl Duval Moore • Cary • Cottage Hill • Deep Creek • Etoniah Creek • Four Creeks • Goethe • Holopaw • Jennings • John 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 Florida Department of Environmental Protection

v • d • e Protected Areas of Mississippi National Park Service Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site • Gulf Islands National Seashore • Natchez National Historical Park • Natchez Trace Parkway • Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail • Tupelo National Battlefield • Vicksburg National Military Park National Forests Bienville • Delta • De Soto • Holly Springs • Homochitto • Tombigee State Parks Buccaneer • Clark Creek Natural Area • Clarkco • Florewood • George P. Cossar • Golden Memorial • Grand Gulf Military Monument Park • Great River Road • Holmes County • Hugh White • John W. Kyle • J. P. Coleman • Lake Lincoln • Lake Lowndes • LeFleur's Bluff • Legion • Leroy Percy • Natchez • Paul B. Johnson • Percy Quin • Roosevelt • Shepard • Tishomingo • Tombigbee • Trace • Wall Doxey Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (web)