Estero Americano State Marine Recreational Management Area

The MLPAI is a collaborative public process to create a statewide network of protected areas along California’s coastline.

Their job was to design a network of protected areas that would preserve sensitive sea life and habitats while enhancing recreation, study and education opportunities.

Just west of State Highway 1, it meanders past the town of Valley Ford, California and empties into Bodega Bay about four miles southeast of the town of Bodega Bay Estero Americano SMRMA area includes the waters below the mean high tide line within Estero Americano westward of longitude 122° 59.25' W. Much of the Estero Americano is designated as an “impaired” streamway, as defined in section 303(d) of the Federal Water Resource Statutes, due to runoff from pasture land and feedlots.

Doran Regional Park, one mile south of Bodega Bay, provides a boat launch and campgrounds, while Salmon Creek Beach to the north is the most popular surf spot in Sonoma County.

Similar studies in marine protected areas located off of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands have already detected gradual improvements in fish size and number.