Teddy Roosevelt

In 1903, the President of the USA, Teddy Roosevelt, named a small Island, Pelican Island,in the Indian River near Sebastian Fl as the very first wildlife refuge.
By the late 19th century, an expanding market for bird feathers for the fashion market was depleting the birds at an alarming rate so a German immigrant named Paul Kroegel and the Audubon society lead a successful campaign to have the President  protect Pelicans and other birds from slaughter, thus the FIRST wildlife Refuge was born