In July 2013, approximately 200,000 cubic yards (150,000 m3) of beach-quality material was dredged from the St. Lucie Inlet Federal channel and impoundment basin and placed on the downdrift beaches of Jupiter Island in the vicinity of the Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge, with funding provided to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from the U.S. Congress.[5]
U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge was established September 30, 1969. It is a coastal refuge bisected by the Indian River Lagoon into two separate tracts of land totaling over 1000 acres. The 735-acre (297 ha) Jupiter Island tract provides some of the most productive sea turtle nesting habitat in the United States, and the 300-acre (120 ha) sand pine scrub mainland tract is valued because more than 90 percent of this community type has been lost to development in Florida. Sand pine scrub habitat is restricted only to Florida and an adjacent county in Alabama.[6]
Hobe Sound Nature Center
The Hobe Sound Nature Center is a private non-profit nature center that cooperates with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct environmental education and awareness programs about the Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge. The center was founded in 1973 by and continues to receive major support from the Jupiter Island Garden Club.