Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, a tiny protected island in the Indian River Lagoon near Sebastian, Florida, became the first national wildlife refuge in the United States when President Theodore Roosevelt established it on March 14, 1903. Created as plume hunting ravaged egrets and other water birds, it also protected one of the last brown pelican rookeries on Florida’s eastern coast. Local resident Paul Kroegel had long guarded the birds and later became the refuge’s first manager. Though only 3 acres, the island marked a turning point in setting land aside specifically for wildlife and remains both an active sanctuary and the symbolic birthplace of the National Wildlife Refuge System.