Wildlife Refuges: As Acres Wash Away, Issues Arise on How Hard To Fight

"Passage Key became one of the first national wildlife refuges in 1905, boasting 30 acres of mangroves and an inland freshwater lake. Today, it sits under the water in Tampa Bay, only emerging at low tide as a small sandbar that is popular with seabirds -- and occasional trespassing nudists.

Its near-disappearance is mostly due to a hurricane decades ago, but Passage Key isn't the only refuge whose boundaries are shrinking. Every year, U.S. refuges lose land -- the result of sea-level rise, severe weather, erosion, the whims of Mother Nature and the passage of time."

Emily Yehle reports for Greenwire April 9, 2014.