CAMA is in the process of updating site specific management plans. The Management Plan review process provides for multiple opportunities to receive vital input from an advisory committee and the public. A draft plan is produced and available for review and comment.

• advisory committee (and associated meetings)
• two public meetings

About the Rookery Bay Reserve

• The Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve was designated in 1978 and and subsequently expanded in 2000 to include the rest of the Rookery Bay Aquatic Preserve and Cape Romano - Ten Thousand Islands Aquatic Preserve.
• Rookery Bay is one of the few undisturbed tropical mangrove forests in North America.
• It is one of the few remaining sanctuaries for the federally-endangered American crocodile.
• The Rookery Bay Reserve contains 110,000 acres of mangrove forests, seagrass beds, saltwater marshes and other coastal and upland habitats.
• Rookery Bay Reserve is a very shallow estuarine system with a mean depth is only 3 feet.
• The Rookery Bay Reserve is immediately west of Everglades National Park.

For more information, please contact Brenda Varnes, at (239)417-6310 or Brenda.Varnes@dep.state.fl.us.

Current Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan
(PDF - 23.7 MB)