ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM AT KSC

Environmental Planning - Natural Resources

KSC, which contains within its boundaries the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) and most of Canaveral National Seashore (CNS), is located on the northern part of Merritt Island on the east coast of central Florida and consists of approximately 56,700 ha (140,000 acres) of land and lagoon waters. Merritt Island and the adjacent Cape Canaveral form a barrier island. The topography is marked by a series of ridges and swales derived from relict dunes deposited as the barrier islands were formed. Elevation ranges from sea level to about 3m (10 ft) in the inland areas and to 6m (20 ft) on the recent dunes. Soils of the area have been derived primarily from deposits of sand and sandy coquina but vary greatly with landscape position, drainage, and age of parent material. Merritt Island’s land mass is bordered on the west by the Indian River, on the southeast by the Banana River and on the north by Mosquito Lagoon.

Cape Canaveral is a barrier island about 7.2 km (4.5 mi) wide. The land surface is about 6 m (20 ft) above sea level. Natural Resources consist of (1) wetlands, (2) uplands, (3) anthropogenic, (4) water, (5) impoundments, (6) marshes, (7) sea grass, (8) wildlife, (9) fish, (10) amphibians, (11) reptile, (12) mammals, (13) birds, (14) manatees, (15) exotics, (16) non-native wildlife, (17) range extensions, (18) feral populations of domesticated species, and (10) more.

At KSC all Threatened and Endangered (T&E) Species reviews begin with the submittal of the KSC Environmental Checklist in: FormFiller (itr format), WORD (doc format), or Portable Document Format (pdf format).

Point of Contact: John Shaffer at 321.867.8448, email: John.P.Shaffer@nasa.gov