FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 30, 2001
Florida's Estuarine Reserves Gain 143,427 Acres
-- Boundary expansions approved by Governor Bush and Cabinet members --
TALLAHASSEE – Today’s
vote by Governor Jeb Bush and Cabinet members expands the boundaries in two
of Florida’s three National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERR). Rookery
Bay NERR, located in southwest Florida near Naples, will add 90,000 acres of
uplands and submerged lands to the existing 20,000 acres; Apalachicola NERR
in the Florida panhandle gains 53,427 acres of publicly owned uplands,
bringing its total acreage to 247,185.
"Through this boundary
expansion, 412,000 acres of Florida’s public uplands and state-owned
submerged lands are protected in national estuarine research reserves,"
said David B. Struhs, Secretary, Department of Environmental Protection.
Rookery Bay and Apalachicola NERR’s
were two of the nation’s earliest national reserves, designated in 1978
and 1979, respectively. Florida’s third NERR (and the nation’s 25th),
the Guana Tolomato Matanzas, borders St. Augustine on the east coast and was
designated in 1999. The NERR program, administered by National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, began in 1972. Of the 25 NERR designatations
throughout the United since the program’s inception, Florida is the only
state to boast three.
The purpose of the NERR program is
to conserve the natural resources of estuarine ecosystems that are
representative of the various regions of the U.S. and its territories. This
is done through on-site management by the state with federal funding
assistance for facilities construction, land management, habitat
restoration, land acquisition and program operations.
NERR staff accomplishes its mission
through the design and implementation of environmental education programs,
conducting scientific research on estuarine ecology, monitoring the
biological and physical processes of the environment, and managing the
uplands and sovereign submerged lands in a way that protects the resources.
National recognition of educational
programs designed by staff at both the Rookery Bay and Apalachicola NERR
prompted NOAA to implement the programs at NERR’s nationwide.
In early December 2001, Rookery Bay
NERR will celebrate the groundbreaking of its new Environmental Learning
Center and Marine Laboratory, with completion anticipated in the summer of
2002. Grants from the NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, totaling
more than $1 million, will be used to construct the 16,000 square-foot
research and education facility.
-30-
