Drakes Estero, which feeds Drakes Bay, is a sheltered estuary located within Point Reyes National Seashore and is part of the spectacular Phillip Burton Wilderness (see maps below). The estuary is the only marine wilderness on the west coast from Canada to Mexico, and became a designated wilderness in 1976 after a full wilderness review, four years of public meetings, and a lengthy environmental impact analysis. However, due to a pre-1976 lease that allows mariculture production for 40 years, Drakes Estero has not yet reaped the benefits of full wilderness protection and status.

The entire estero is currently managed as wilderness with that one mariculture exception, which will be corrected in 2012 when the mariculture lease expires. However, the current oyster company is now campaigning to expand the operation and have the lease extended, threatening the estero's ecology, the wilderness legislation, and decades' long effort to preserve it for wildlife and public enjoyment.

The National Park Service has documented negative impacts on harbor seals and eelgrass from the oyster operation.

Learn more about the threats to wilderness, the threats to this national park's ecology, the negative implications nationwide, and take action!