Dear {{FirstName or 'Audubon Advocate'}},

The State of Florida is attempting to take back one of America's National Wildlife Refuges. The Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge provides critical habitat to 250 species of birds, including the largest wading bird colony in the Everglades with more than 7,000 active nests.

But now, in an effort that has long been encouraged by the sugar industry, Florida has begun the process of evicting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This move will eliminate federal wildlife protections on the 144,000 acre Refuge, one of the last remnants of the historic Everglades.

Please send a letter to Florida’s Governor Rick Scott and urge him not to close down the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.

The State of Florida is using the management of an invasive plant as a pretext to cut ties with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and take away the Refuge. Under U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stewardship, the Refuge has flourished into some of the healthiest Everglades habitat.

Florida’s attempt to take back the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is the latest effort in a nationwide movement to eliminate federal protections from our most treasured public lands. For years, the sugar industry dumped dirty water into the Refuge until the U.S. Department of Justice enforced water quality laws and ordered them to clean up their act to protect the Refuge’s vital wildlife habitat. Eliminating the Refuge will weaken legal protections for habitat for threatened Wood Storks and endangered Everglades Snail Kites.

Evicting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will not solve the challenge of controlling and combating invasive species in the refuge–it’s a misguided ploy to get rid of one of our National Wildlife Refuges and would set a dangerous precedent for other protected places around the country.

Email Governor Scott today and tell him not to eliminate the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.