Ulumay a gem of a sanctuary hidden on Merritt Island

BY BETTY PORTER

The spring months are a great time to visit the historic Ulumay Wildlife Sanctuary on Merritt Island.

The 1,200 acre site offers birding, a hiking trail, biking, a canoe and kayak launch, and fishing along the interior trail from a 20-foot by 100-foot pier.

to North Sykes Creek Parkway at Old Audubon Road. The address is 805 Sykes Creek Parkway.

There is no admission charge. The Sanctuary is open during the daytime to visitors seven days a week with free parking and is accessible to people with disabilities as required by the American with Disabilities Act.

An Ulumay historical marker sits on Old Audubon Road at the entrance to the Ulumay Wildlife Sanctuary. Its inscription tells the story of the area having been part of the Ais native American culture. The Ais were one of the most influential and powerful tribes in Florida.

When Spanish Army Lt. Alvaro Mexia mapped the Ulumay Lagoon in 1605, he wrote in his diary “Here is the town of Ulumay, the first one of the province of Ais. In the back of, adjacent to this town, there are many camps.”

The Ais people occupied small interior camps and towns along the resource-rich estuaries. The camps were abundant with fish and fresh vegetables.

It is a place of quiet and tranquility rich in Florida history.

While tucked away, it is also very much in the middle of the urban environment of Merritt Island. The site runs from State Road 528 south

British merchant Jonathan Dickinson of Jamaica trekked north through the Ais territory in 1696 after he had been shipwrecked near what is now Hobe Sound. Within a few years of his visit, epidemics weakened and then decimated the Ais. By 1715, only a few natives were seen by survivors of the Spanish fleet shipwrecks.

Through the 1950s, Ais village mounds, including Ulumay, were mined to obtain decomposed shells for use as roadbed material.

In 1970, the area was given to

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Brevard County by the State of Florida as a park. In 1993, the Brevard County Historical Commission dedicated the Ulumay Wildlife Sanctuary as a historical landmark.

“Ulumay is an important Mosquito Control Impoundment,” said Mike Knight, the Environmentally Endangered Lands program manager. “The berms around the perimeter keep water inside the impoundment during the mosquito breeding season to minimize egg-laying by the salt marsh mosquito. This species of mosquito can only lay eggs in wet exposed mud. If the mud is flooded, they cannot lay their eggs.”

“While currently we do not track visitation data at Ulumay, it is a renowned international attraction for birdwatchers,” Knight said.

Mary Ellen Donner, the director of the Brevard County Parks and Recreation Department said the trailhead on Hall Road is for the Pioneer Trail which is under Parks and Recreation management.

“Pioneer Trail is a three-mile hiking trail and has four observation decks of varying heights for viewing wildlife,” she said. “The Pier is managed by the Parks and Recreation Department, but the interior of the site is managed by EEL and Mosquito Control.”

More information is available at brevardfl.gov/EELprogram/ sanctuaries/ulumaysanctuary. Or call the Brevard County Parks and Recreation at 321-633-1874. For EEL, call 321-255-4466. SL