Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

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Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve protects 110,000 acres of coastal lands and waters at the northern end of the Ten Thousand Islands on the gulf coast of Florida, representing one of the few remaining undisturbed mangrove estuaries in North America.^[1]

Its ecosystem is a prime example of a nearly pristine subtropical mangrove forested estuary. It is located in the West Florida subregion of the West Indian Biogeographic Region.

History

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A 10-mile loop road through Rookery Bay was proposed in 1963 ehich would have facilitated vast coastal development around Rookery Bay. The Collier County Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy, the Collier Audubon Society, and a number of private investors, began a grass roots effort which resulted in the purchase of 3,362 acres which eventually became the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Sanctuary, with official designation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1980. Shortly thereafter, the name was changed to Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Activities

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Friends of Rookery Bay is a non-profit organization that supports the reserve's fundraising goals. Many of Rookery Bay's research and resource management projects are completed by volunteers.^[2] Team OCEAN is a volunteer partnership between Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Florida Sea Grant and other community contributors that follows the model set at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The Team OCEAN volunteers frequently visit areas in the Reserve where people make recurring visits, ensuring that boaters practice ethical procedures and are aware of "Leave-No-Trace" guidelines. Volunteers also clean waste where needed.^[3] Rookery Bay teaches approximately many students each year through field trips. Estuary Explorers is a program organized for fourth-grade students and Rookery Bay Survivors is organized for seventh-grade students.^[4] Reserve resource managers facilitate land acquisition, conduct habitat and hydrology restoration projects, eradicate and control invasive plants and animals, protect listed species, respond to marine mammal strandings, manage important habitats and conduct prescribed fires to sustain native biodiversity.^[5] The reserve also offers seasonal guided boat and kayak tours.^[6] Researchers from a wide array of wildlife specializations study at Rookery Bay and the reserve uses the scientists' information to oversee its resources. ^[7]

References

[edit]

^ It is managed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Coastal Office in cooperation with NOAA. National Estuarine Research Reserve System overview of Rookery Bay, website accessed on 4 Nov 2006
^ Team, RGB. "Volunteering". Retrieved 28 September 2016.
^ Carney, Brooke. "Team OCEAN". Retrieved 28 September 2016.
^ Team, RGB. "Students & Teachers". Retrieved 28 September 2016.
^ Team, RGB. "Natural Resources Management". Retrieved 28 September 2016.
^ DELETE, DO NOT. "Guided Nature Tours". Retrieved 28 September 2016.
^ Team, RGB. "Research". Retrieved 28 September 2016.

External links

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Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve - official site

25°58′18″N 81°44′06″W / 25.971621°N 81.7350°W / 25.971621; -81.7350

v t e National Estuarine Research Reserves of the United States
Apalachicola Ashepoo Combahee Edisto Basin Bahía de Jobos Chesapeake Bay Chesapeake Bay Delaware Elkhorn Slough Grand Bay Great Bay Guana Tolomato Matanzas He‘eia Hudson River Jacques Cousteau Kachemak Bay Lake Superior Mission-Aransas Narragansett Bay North Carolina North Inlet-Winyah Bay Old Woman Creek Padilla Bay Rookery Bay San Francisco Bay Sapelo Island South Slough Tijuana River Waquoit Bay Weeks Bay Wells
Category Commons

Protected areas of Florida

Federal level

National parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades
National memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline
National monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas
National seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands
National forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola
National wildlife refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands
Other national protected areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
National Marine Sanctuaries	Florida Keys Key Largo (1975–1990) Looe Key (1981–1990)
National Estuarine Research Reserves	Apalachicola NERR Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Loxahatchee River Wekiva River

State level

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier–Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Price's Scrub Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Marks River St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef
Botanical garden parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks
Lakes, rivers and springs parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Three Rivers Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Troy Spring Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs
Recreation areas	Dead Lakes Gamble Rogers Memorial
Museums, historic sites, and archaeological sites	Addison Blockhouse Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield DeSoto Site Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater
Preserves and reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Disney Wilderness Estero Bay Green Cay Wetlands Fakahatchee Strand Hal Scott Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Tosohatchee Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh
State trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Jacksonville-Baldwin Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee
State forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Local level

Preserves and reserves	Boyd Hill Gumbo Limbo Moccasin Lake

History

Activities

See also

References

External links