Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge protects a 3-acre island with an additional 2.5 acres of surrounding water in the Indian River Lagoon off the western coast of Orchid Island, Florida, east of Sebastian, and is now part of the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge complex. It was established by an executive order of President Theodore Roosevelt on March 14, 1903, making it the first National Wildlife Refuge in the United States, created to protect egrets and other birds from extinction through plume hunting. The wider refuge area covers 5,376 acres, was designated a Ramsar wetland of international importance in 1993, and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1963.
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