John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum
| John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum | |
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IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
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| Location | Delaware County and Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Nearest city | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates | 39°53′09″N 75°15′44″W / 39.885866°N 75.262356°WCoordinates: 39°53′09″N 75°15′44″W / 39.885866°N 75.262356°W |
| Area | 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) |
| Established | 1972 |
| Governing body | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
| Website | John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum |
| Designated | 1965 |
The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum is a 1000-acre (4.05 km2) National Wildlife Refuge spanning Philadelphia and Delaware counties in Pennsylvania. Located in Tinicum Township, the refuge is adjacent to the Philadelphia International Airport. Established in 1972 as the Tinicum National Environmental Center, it was renamed in 1991 after the late H. John Heinz III who had helped preserve Tinicum Marsh.
The refuge serves to protect the largest remaining freshwater tidal marsh in Pennsylvania; approximately 350 acres (0.8 km2). When land acquisition is complete, the refuge will consist of 1200 acres (4.9 km2) of varied habitats.
The history of Tinicum Marsh, the largest remaining freshwater tidal wetland in Pennsylvania, goes back to 1634 and the region's first settlements. Dutch, Swedish and English settlers diked and drained parts of the marsh for grazing. At that time, the vast tidal marshes stretched over 5,700 acres (23 km2). Rapid urbanization since World War I has reduced tidal marshes to approximately 200 acres (0.8 km2). The remnant of this once vast tidal marsh is protected by the refuge.
A diked, non-tidal area of 145 acres (0.6 km2), adjacent to the eastern end of Tinicum marsh, was donated by the Gulf Oil Corporation to the City of Philadelphia in 1955. This area, administered for the benefit of wildlife and people, was known as Tinicum Wildlife Preserve. The areas of open water along with the adjacent heavily vegetated tidal wetlands, formed an ideal habitat for thousands of migratory waterfowl.
The marsh was declared a National Natural Landmark in 1965.
In 1969, the remaining area was threatened by plans to route Interstate 95 through it and by a sanitary landfill on the tidal wetlands. These activities started a long series of injunctions, public hearings and extraordinary efforts by private and public groups to secure rerouting of the highway (completed in 1985) and termination of the landfill operation.
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