Skip to main content
Aquatic Preserves

Yellow River Marsh Aquatic Preserve

NEWS     |     RESOURCES     |     CALENDAR

Yellow River Marsh Aquatic Preserve is located in south-central Santa Rosa County in the western Florida Panhandle. This preserve encompasses about 11,000 acres of the Yellow River, Blackwater Bay and East Bay in the western Florida Panhandle. Located northwest of Yellow River Marsh Aquatic Preserve are the two closest population centers: the city of Milton, the county seat of Santa Rosa County and the city of Bagdad. Interstate 10 is northwest of this aquatic preserve. 

Yellow River Marsh Aquatic Preserve contains all of the sovereign submerged state-owned lands of the Yellow River, Blackwater Bay and East Bay, within the aquatic preserve boundary. Rare and imperiled natural communities can be found within or adjacent to the aquatic preserve boundaries. The publicly owned Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park, part of the Florida’s Division of Recreation and Parks, is directly connected to this preserve at the western side of the aquatic preserve. The largest landholding adjacent to the aquatic preserve is Eglin Air Force Base. The base is responsible for managing most of its lands, especially the low-lying wetlands designated as Eglin Wildlife Management Area. 

History

This aquatic preserve was designated in 1970 for the primary purpose of preserving the biological resources in the area and maintaining these resources in an essentially natural condition. The aquatic preserve was also selected as a Gulf Ecological Management Site for its ecological significance in the Gulf of America region. 

The aquatic preserve is a vital component in the Pensacola Bay System because it has been the least impacted by development and pollution. There are more than 1,000 acres of salt and freshwater marshes and approximately 1,500 acres of forested wetlands within the aquatic preserve, which provide filtration from pollutants and serve as natural flood control. The remainder of the aquatic preserve is open water. The uplands bordering the aquatic preserve consist primarily of residential areas and public managed areas including substantial additional forested wetlands.

Eglin Air Force Base and the Northwest Florida Water Management District manage almost half of the uplands adjacent to the aquatic preserve, which help buffer impacts to water quality.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Volunteer Opportunities 

Staff conduct education and outreach programs through participation in local events, such as the Seagrass Awareness Festival and working with the schools by visiting or conducting field trips. Staff from the Northwest Florida Aquatic Preserves are often involved with research efforts at the college level as well as with county agencies.

Events

  • Seagrass Awareness Festival

Educational Opportunities

Education and outreach efforts for Yellow River Marsh Aquatic Preserve include workshops, conferences, symposiums and research throughout the region. Public talks at school groups, garden clubs, nonprofit organizations, as well as facility tours are often given to educate the community about the program and ongoing management, education and restoration efforts. Through formal program with other locals, like Bringing Back the Bayous, Grasses to Classes, Bay Days, coastal cleanups and project tours, we can raise awareness to citizens on water quality, invasive/exotic control, habitat concerns and restoration, as well as many other topics of interest to the community.
 

Scientific Information

There are 20 archaeological and historical sites within the aquatic preserve that have been identified by the Division of Historical Resources. These sites range from shipwrecks, burial sites, campgrounds and shell middens. Some of these sites and artifacts surveyed date to Archaic and Prehistoric periods.

There is one known shipwreck in the preserve, which is thought to be the City of Tampa, an early 20th-century passenger vessel used to ferry workers from Pensacola to the Blackwater Bay lumber mills. During the Second Spanish Colonial period, Santa Rosa County began to see heavy utilization, serving as a location for repairing ships and establishing water-powered mills. 

Yellow River Aquatic Preserve lies in the physiographic region known as the Gulf Coastal Lowlands, the low-lying area including parts of southern Santa Rosa County. This preserve lies on top of the surficial aquifer system, or the sand and gravel aquifer as it is called in the western Panhandle.

The Yellow River flows into the aquatic preserve and has the highest elevation in Florida, making it the fastest flowing river in the state. As a result, the Yellow River creates bluffs as high as 40 feet as it cuts through the highlands, carrying more sediment than any other Florida river of equivalent size. The span of the river goes through two states (Alabama and Florida) and extends for 118 miles before opening into East Bay. 

Wildlife Habitat and Ecosystem Types
Aquatic preserves, floodplain swamp, estuarine unconsolidated substrate, blackwater stream, wet prairie, wet flatwoods, seagrass beds, mollusk reef, salt marsh

A full list of species can be found in the management plan.

Conservation Efforts

There are several areas in the aquatic preserve that are of concern regarding the presence of invasive non-native species, such as cogon grass. Invasive non-native animals include two species of Asian clam, nutria and feral hogs. Feral hogs are among the most detrimental, posing a significant threat to ecosystem function and native species. They prefer forested, remote wetlands and primarily feed on plant material but are opportunistic and have been documented to consume native invertebrates and vertebrates. Their wallowing behavior impacts water quality and disturbs native vegetation, allowing non-native plants to establish in new areas.

The loss of shoreline along Yellow River Marsh Aquatic Preserve is generally the result of increased erosion due to wave energy amplified by coastal armoring on either side. Within the past 10 years, 80 feet of shoreline has been lost, resulting in severe coastal flooding of a coastal pine flatwood forest. The restoration of this coastal transition zone will provide room for habitat migration with sea level rise and is a focus of the resource management program. The project places vertical oyster reef structures along approximately 1,000 linear feet of shoreline to reduce wave energy and is expected to grow an established living oyster reef that would enhance habitat and emergent vegetation within the aquatic preserve. Staff are also pursuing other projects to address the gradual decline of estuarine habitat in the aquatic preserve.

Ongoing Research

Continuous water quality monitoring is conducted within Yellow River Marsh Aquatic Preserve, measuring the parameters of turbidity, conductivity, salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH. Several salt marsh and oyster restoration projects have been implemented along Yellow River Marsh Aquatic Preserve. This location remains an important site for eco-restoration, monitoring and coastal resiliency projects like Living Shorelines.

Staff and partners have conducted monitoring programs of gulf sturgeon, the gulf saltmarsh snake, diamondback terrapin and several other species of concern. Since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, focus has shifted toward water quality monitoring and sedimentation. 

Learn more

Frequently Asked Questions

Year-round

Yes. Aquatic preserves often are adjacent to other conservation areas that may have nesting birds or other easily disturbed wildlife. Please do not let your pet run free in areas not designated for pets, and please pick up after your pet to avoid hazardous pathogens in our coastal waters. 

Follow current FWC saltwater fishing regulations.

Follow current FWC boating regulations.

Seagrass is protected within aquatic preserves; avoid shallow waters and raise motor if over seagrass. Damage to seagrass can result in a fine up to $1,000. 

Call Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922).

ADA accommodations are specific to each access point and the managing entity for that site. 

There are no fees required by the preserve, but specific access points may charge access fees to those sites.  

We recommend visiting the Yellow River Marsh Aquatic Preserve in April and early May, this is the best time to see native species of pitcher pants in blooming in multiple different colors and sizes.

Partner Groups

  • Eglin Air Force Base
  • Northwest Florida Water Management District
  • Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park
  • Choctawhatchee National Forest
  • Escribano Point Wildlife Management Area
  • Garcon Point Water Management Area
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency