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| Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve | |
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 Laudholm Farm buildings. | |
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| Location | Wells, Maine |
| Coordinates | 43°20′19″N70°33′13″W / 43.3387°N 70.5537°W |
| Area | 2,250 acres (9.1 km2) |
| Established | 1984 |
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Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve, also known as Wells Reserve, is a National Estuarine Research Reserve located in Wells, Maine.
Established in 1984, Wells Reserve manages 2,250 acres (9.1 km2) of coastal habitat and is headquartered at the historic Laudholm Farm. [1] The land managed by the reserve lies partially within the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. [2] Funding for the reserve is provided in part by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as by the nonprofit Laudholm Trust. [3]
Wells Reserve is located along the coast of the Gulf of Maine. The land managed by the reserve includes fields, forests, salt marsh, tidal freshwater marsh, and sandy beaches. [2] The reserve includes the campus of Laudholm Farm, which serves as the reserve's headquarters. Laudholm Farm is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[ citation needed ]
The reserve also features a visitor center and the Maine Coastal Ecology Center, which hosts educational exhibits featuring the landscape, history, and ecology of the reserve. [1] The Maine Coastal Ecology Center also has research facilities for visiting scientists.[ citation needed ]
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Since the 1980s, the Wells Reserve research program has been expanding knowledge of coasts and estuaries with an emphasis on ensuring healthy salt marsh ecosystems. Some key areas of research include:
Staff scientists also monitor trends in weather, water quality, nutrients, and plant and animal communities, contributing to a national effort that promotes effective coastal zone management.
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Wells Reserve educators engage people in environmental education, both on-site and in local communities. Each year, more than 3,000 children and adults participate in a variety of educational programs at the site, which serves as a living laboratory. The Wells Reserve also maintains indoor facilities to enrich teaching opportunities. Formal educational offerings include:
The nationally recognized Coastal Training Program provides resource managers, regulators, politicians, and other decision-makers with information on sound coastal management, as well as opportunities to collaborate on watershed initiatives.
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Wells Reserve resource specialists manage about 500 acres (2.0 km2) representing many habitats that support impressive flora and fauna. Acting as a model site for stewardship, methods of active management employed at the Wells Reserve include:
The Wells Reserve also involves communities in conservation by providing mapping services, technical assistance, training programs, and conservation data useful for the protection and care of land and water resources.
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The protected lands comprising the Wells Reserve are entirely within the Town of Wells, Maine. These conservation lands are owned by the Maine Department of Conservation (533 acres), United States Fish and Wildlife Service/Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge (1,428 acres), Town of Wells (249 acres), and Wells Reserve Management Authority (40 acres).
The Wells Reserve site, farmed for over three centuries, holds a prominent place in the town's history. The Laudholm Farm campus reflects New England's progressive farming era. By the 1970s, farming had ceased to be viable, but the effort to permanently protect Laudholm stimulated the establishment of Maine's only National Estuarine Research Reserve. Laudholm Farm's buildings were restored and renovated to respect a treasured heritage while creating a platform for Wells Reserve research, education, and stewardship programs.[ citation needed ]
The National Estuarine Research Reserve System is a network of 30 protected areas established by partnerships between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and coastal states. The reserves represent different biogeographic regions of the United States. The National Estuarine Research Reserve System protects more than 1.3 million acres of coastal and estuarine habitats for long-term research, water-quality monitoring, education, and coastal stewardship.
The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 is an Act of Congress passed in 1972 to encourage coastal states to develop and implement coastal zone management plans (CZMPs). This act was established as a United States National policy to preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, restore or enhance, the resources of the Nation's coastal zone for this and succeeding generations.
The Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve is a nature reserve that is located at 1700 Elkhorn Road in Watsonville, California. The reserve encompasses the central shore of Monterey Bay and is approximately 100 miles (160 km) south of San Francisco, California. The Elkhorn Slough is established as a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is being managed as the Elkhorn Slough Ecological Reserve through the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, located in southeastern New Jersey, encompasses over 110,000 acres (450 km2) of terrestrial, wetland and aquatic habitats within the Mullica River-Great Bay Ecosystem.
In 1999, the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve was designated in St. Johns and Flagler counties, Florida as a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) system. The GTM Research Reserve represents the east Florida sub-region of the Carolinian bioregion. It is one of 30 NERRs in 23 states and one territory. GTM is one of three NERRs in Florida and is administered on behalf of the state by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Florida Coastal Office as part of a network that includes forty-one aquatic preserves, three NERRs, a National Marine Sanctuary, the Coral Reef Conservation Program and the Florida Oceans and Coastal Council. Additional interests are held in the research and management of the GTM and connected preserved or conserved lands including:
The Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge is a 9,125-acre (37 km2) National Wildlife Refuge made up of several parcels of land along 50 miles (80 km) of Maine's southern coast. Created in 1966, it is named for environmentalist and author Rachel Carson, whose book Silent Spring raised public awareness of the effects of DDT on migratory songbirds, and of other environmental issues.
Elkhorn Slough is a 7-mile-long (11 km) tidal slough and estuary on Monterey Bay in Monterey County, California. It is California's second largest estuary and the United States' first estuarine sanctuary. The community of Moss Landing and the Moss Landing Power Plant are located at the mouth of the slough on the bay.
Moro Cojo Estuary State Marine Reserve (SMR) is a marine protected area established to protect the wildlife and habitats in Moro Cojo Slough. Moro Cojo Slough is located inland from Monterey Bay on the central coast of California, directly south of the more widely known Elkhorn Slough. The area covers 0.46 square miles (1.2 km2). The SMR protects all marine life within its boundaries. Fishing and take of all living marine resources is prohibited.
The Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is one of the most biologically productive estuarine ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico region, supporting several rare or endangered plant and animal species, numerous important marine fishery resources, diverse habitat types and archaeological sites, in the U.S. State of Mississippi.
The Ashepoo Combahee Edisto Basin National Estuarine Research Reserve is a 140,000-acre (570 km2) reserve area located in the ACE Basin, one of the largest undeveloped estuaries on the Atlantic coast of the United States. It is named for the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto Rivers, which flow past cypress swamps, historic plantation houses, old rice fields and tidal marshes to meet at South Carolina's biologically rich St. Helena Sound.
The Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve consists of two unique components, one on Blackbird Creek and the other on the St. Jones River. Freshwater wetlands, ponds and forest lands dominate the Blackbird Creek component. The St. Jones component is dominated by salt marsh and open water habitats of the Delaware Bay.
The Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve encompasses a diversity of land and water areas around Great Bay, an estuary in southeastern New Hampshire. Protected lands cover 10,235 acres (4,142 ha), including approximately 7,300 acres (3,000 ha) of open water and wetlands that include salt marshes, rocky shores, bluffs, woodlands, open fields, and riverine systems and tidal waters.
The Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve is a large contiguous complex of wetland, terrestrial, and marine environments on the Texas Coastal Bend in the United States. Named for the two major rivers that flow into the area, the reserve contains public and private lands and waters. The land is primarily coastal prairie with unique oak motte habitats. The wetlands include riparian habitat, freshwater marshes, and saltwater marshes. Within the water areas, the bays are large, open, and include extensive tidal flats, seagrass meadows, mangroves, and oyster reefs. These unique and diverse estuarine habitats in the western Gulf of Mexico support a host of endangered and threatened species including the endangered whooping crane.
The Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is a field laboratory and research facility along Weeks Bay estuary, about 6,000 acres (2,400 ha) in size. It receives freshwater from the Magnolia and Fish Rivers, and drains a 198 square miles (510 km2) watershed into the portion of Mobile Bay via a narrow opening. This sub-estuary of Mobile Bay averages just 4.8 ft deep and is fringed with marsh and swamp. The reserve lands also include upland and bottomland hardwood forests, freshwater marsh, submerged aquatic vegetation and unique bog habitats. Weeks Bay is a critical nursery for shrimp, bay anchovy, blue crab and multitudes of other fish, crustaceans and shellfish that support robust commercial fisheries providing $450 million/year for Alabama.
The Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in the state of Massachusetts. Established in 1995, it is administered by the Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Complex. The refuge includes a surface area of 537.12 acres (2.1736 km2) managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge encompasses a total of 5,971 acres (24.16 km2), as established by the United States Congress.
Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1992 under the Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1986 to protect one of the largest expanses of undisturbed pine savanna habitats in the Gulf Coastal Plain region. The refuge is located near Grand Bay, Alabama in Mobile County, Alabama and Jackson County, Mississippi, and when complete will encompass over 32,000 acres (130 km2). The refuge is part of the National Wildlife Refuge system. The Refuge Complex Manager also administers the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge and Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. Access to refuge lands is limited, but is available mostly on the Mississippi side and by boat.
Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge is located in the most southwestern corner of the contiguous United States. As a National Wildlife Refuge, it is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It was established in 1980.
Moss Landing Wildlife Area is a California State wildlife preserve on the shore of Elkhorn Slough.
The San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex is a series of wildlife refuges established by the United States National Wildlife Service beginning in 1972. The complex incorporates five refuges in San Diego County and Orange County in California.
