Introduction
Although approximately 40% of land in the United States is managed by federal or state agencies, that percentage is much smaller in the Northeast. Most people are familiar with federally-protected lands such as National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, and National Forests. Fewer know about National Marine Sanctuaries or National Estuarine Research Reserves which protect areas of water as well as, in some cases, land.
National Estuarine Research Reserves are protected areas that include coastal lands and waters. The National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) was established in 1972 as part of the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act. The reserves are administered by varying combinations of federal, state, and local partnerships. The federal agency with primary oversight of the NERRS is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
By 1996 there were 22 National Estuarine Research Reserves nationwide. In the Northeast there are eight established estuarine reserves with two more currently being developed:
Thus, all the coastal states in the Northeast have at least one estuarine reserve, except for the State of Connecticut.
The mission of the NERRS is to link stewardship, education, and research in order to better understand and manage estuarine resources. Estuaries include environments that have traditionally been viewed as "waste lands" by many segments of society. Salt marshes and tidal flats have been drained and filled on a wide scale. Only fairly recently has the public become aware of the vital ecological roles that these coastal habitats play. The research and educational activities at the local level of the estuarine reserves have helped to increase public knowledge and awareness of the value of these resources.
NERRs in the northeast have been active in environmental education at the local level and in fostering estuarine research that is relevant to managing and protecting coastal resources. The Waquoit Bay NERR, in particular, has sponsored a variety of research projects that have led to a better understanding of factors involved in the decline of seagrasses in the northeast and to establishing linkages between land use activities in estuarine watersheds and declining estuarine water quality. Other reserves, such as the Great Bay (NH) and Wells (ME) NERRs, have conducted extensive monitoring in order to understand baseline environmental conditions in these estuaries as a comparison to future trends.
Pro and Con
Discussion points regarding NERRs include:
- Concerns over the proliferation of multiple federal and state agencies involved in management of coastal resources.
- The advantage of having locally based partnerships to protect and manage estuarine resources and to provide a focus for public education of these ecosystems.
Connection to Environmental Science: The Way the World Works
Environmental Science: The Way The World Works (Sixth Edition) by B.J. Nebel and R.T. Wright has several sections that deal with issues relating to estuaries and stewardship of natural resources.
Estuarine ecosystems are described on pages 278 and 296-300.
Preservation and stewardship of natural resources, including land and coastal resources, are discussed in Chapter 19, "Ecosystems as Resources."
Hyperlinks
- An introduction to estuaries (1) and An introduction to estuaries (2)
- These pages give a brief discussion of what estuaries are and introduce estuarine ecology. The pages are maintained by the University of South Carolina's Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine Biology and Coastal Research for NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve System.
- Estuary-Net Project
- The home page for a collaborative NERRS-wide monitoring program whose contributors include high school students, volunteer monitors, universities, and local, state, and federal agencies. The program seeks to help control coastal nonpoint source water pollution by providing an understanding of water quality and land use conditions in the nation's estuarine reserves.
- National Estuarine Research Reserve System's System-Wide Monitoring Program
- The page provides a description of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System's System-Wide Monitoring Program and includes access to data collected by the program.
- Sanctuaries and Reserves Division in NOAA's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resources
- The home page for the office in NOAA that administers Marine Sanctuaries and Estuarine Research Reserves.
- National Estuarine Research Reserve System
- The home page for the National Estuarine Research Reserve System.
- List of the Current National Estuarine Research Reserve
- A list of the current National Estuarine Research Reserves with links to short descriptions of each reserve.
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Detailed Descriptions of Individual Northeastern NERRs
- A detailed description of the Wells (ME) NERR.
- A detailed description of the Great Bay (NH) NERR.
- A detailed description of the Waquoit Bay (MA) NERR.
- A detailed description of the Narragansett Bay (RI) NERR.
- A detailed description of the Hudson River (NY) NERR.
- A detailed description of the Chesapeake Bay (MD) NERR.
- Waquoit Bay NERR
- The home page for the Waquoit Bay NERR with extensive information on Waquoit Bay and links to related programs.
References
- Fortner, R.W. and A.C. Lahm. 1990. Research Program Outreach into the Classroom: An Estuarine Reserve Initiative. J. Environmental Education 21:7-12.
- Sham, C.H., J.W. Brawley, and M.A. Moritz. 1995. Quantifying Loadings to Receiving Waters: Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts. International Journal of Geographical Information Systems 9:463-473.
- Crosby, M.P. and A.D. Beck. 1995. Management-oriented research in National Estuarine Research Reserves, with examples of fisheries-focused studies. Natural Areas J. 15:12-20.
