John F. Kennedy called on the United States to take a clearly leading role in space achievement in his speech to Congress on May 25th, 1961. The Apollo Beach district of Canaveral National Seashore marks the northern boundary of an area authorized by Congress as a unit of the National Park Service on January 3, 1975. By geography and history, this national seashore is tied to the United States space program, Kennedy Space Center, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration near Cape Canaveral on the east coast of Central Florida, where land was acquired from private and public owners before the Apollo program so the nation could launch into space. As space program needs were met, local officials also recognized the value of preserving public lands, leading to the setting aside of lands and waters for Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in 1963 and for Canaveral National Seashore twelve years later. Today NASA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service are partners and protectors of a place where nature is the gateway to the stars.