Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

Protected area in Alaska, United States

Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, on the western coast of the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, is part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System and is managed jointly by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Covering more than 370,000 acres (1,500 km), it is the largest reserve in the system, encompassing one of the most diverse and intensively used estuaries in Alaska. The local community pursued the designation of Kachemak Bay as a National Estuarine Research Reserve to preserve the lifestyle and economy of the region.

The boundary for Kachemak Bay NERR encompasses two state critical habitat areas or CHAs (Kachemak Bay Critical Habitat Area and Fox River Flats Critical Habitat Area), and two state parks (Kachemak Bay State Park and Kachemak Bay State Wilderness Park). The State CHAs comprise 923 square kilometres (228,000 acres) within the Reserve boundary (Kachemak Bay = 926 square kilometres or 229,000 acres; Fox River Flats = 27 square kilometres or 6,700 acres), while those areas of Kachemak Bay State Park, Alaska’s first state park, and Kachemak Bay State Wilderness Park, that fall within the Kachemak Bay watershed make up the remaining 554 square kilometres (137,000 acres).

In 2011, Alaska withdrew from participation in the Coastal Zone Management Program and hence no longer qualifies for grants under the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program, but the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve can still receive them.

References

"Kachemak Bay, AK". National Estuarine Research Reserve System. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
"Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve – Management Plan 2012 - 2017" (PDF). Retrieved 25 October 2021.
Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce (July 7, 2011). "Alaska Coastal Management Program Withdrawal From the National Coastal Management Program Under the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA)". Federal Register. 76 (130): 39857–39858. 76 FR 39857

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 Alaska

Federal

National Parks	Denali Gates of the Arctic Glacier Bay Katmai Kenai Fjords Kobuk Valley Lake Clark Wrangell–St. Elias
National Historical Parks	Klondike Gold Rush (Chilkoot Trail) Sitka
National Monuments	Admiralty Island (USFS) Aleutian Islands World War II (FWS) Aniakchak Cape Krusenstern Misty Fjords (USFS)
National Preserves	Bering Land Bridge Noatak Yukon–Charley Rivers
National Wildlife Refuges	Alaska Maritime Alaska Peninsula Arctic Becharof Innoko Izembek Kanuti Kenai Kodiak Koyukuk Nowitna Selawik Tetlin Togiak Yukon Delta Yukon Flats
National Forests	Chugach Tongass
Forest Service units	Mendenhall Glacier
Wilderness Areas	Aleutian Islands Andreafsky Becharof Bering Sea Bogoslof Chamisso Chuck River Coronation Island Denali Endicott River Forrester Island Gates of the Arctic Glacier Bay Hazy Islands Innoko Izembek Karta River Katmai Kenai Kobuk Valley Kootznoowoo Koyukuk Kuiu Lake Clark Maurille Islands Misty Fjords Mollie Beattie Noatak Nunivak Petersburg Creek–Duncan Salt Chuck Pleasant/Lemesurier/Inian Islands Russell Fiord Saint Lazaria Selawik Semidi Simeonof South Baranof South Etolin South Prince of Wales Stikine-LeConte Tebenkof Bay Togiak Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Tuxedni Unimak Warren Island West Chichagof-Yakobi Wrangell–Saint Elias
Wild and Scenic Rivers	Alagnak Alatna Andreafsky Aniakchak Beaver Creek Birch Creek Charley Chilikadrotna Delta Fortymile Gulkana Ivishak John Kobuk North Fork Koyukuk Mulchatna Noatak Nowitna Salmon Selawik Sheenjek Tinayguk Tlikakila Unalakleet Wind
National Conservation Area	Steese

State

State Parks	Afognak Island Chilkat Chugach Denali Kachemak Bay Point Bridget Shuyak Island Wood-Tikchik
State Forests	Haines Southeast Tanana Valley

Alaska Department of Natural Resources

59°37′N 151°20′W / 59.62°N 151.34°W / 59.62; -151.34

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