Bodega Marine Reserve

The Bodega Marine Reserve (BMR) is located in Sonoma County on Bodega Bay. The reserve's collections cover the natural, land use, research, and institutional history of the reserve, especially its relationships with governmental and non-governmental organizations, from UNESCO to the Rancho Bodega Historical Society.

The history of the BMR is closely intertwined with the Bodega Marine Laboratory (BML), which administered the current reserve site from its acquisition in 1963 until the establishment of the BMR and transfer to the NRS in the early 1980s. The two institutions still operate in tandem, and the reserve houses historical materials pertaining to both. In addition to the BMR collection, the BML's Cadet Hand Library houses its own collection of materials containing extensive documentation of the reserve site prior to its administrative separation. Any inquiry into the history of the reserve would be incomplete without examining both the BMR and BML collections.