A member organization of the Pelican Bay community Mangrove Action Group Mangrove Action Group is dedicated to conserving Clam Pass and Clam Bay Natural Resource Area (NRPA) and its natural environs, to protecting its mangroves, its wetlands and the flow and quality of its water, believing that its unspoiled character makes a critical contribution to the environment, to the flora and fauna that share it, and to the quality of life for Collier County residents and visitors. In 1994, as development in Pelican Bay continued north, residents of the high rises overlooking Clam Bay noticed a large and growing area of dead mangroves. By the end of the year, the die-off area had grown from six acres to 20 acres. Alarmed by its rapid expansion, residents of Pelican Bay sought help from county and state officials. With little assistance forthcoming, a group of Pelican Bay residents founded the Mangrove Action Group (MAG) in 1995. The organization initiated a successful grassroots campaign to raise money to hire top coastal engineers, marine biologists and mangrove specialists to address the die-off problem. Additionally, MAG persuaded the Pelican Bay Services Division (PBSD), a special taxing district for Pelican Bay, and WCI (Pelican Bay’s then developer) to assume the mangrove rescue and restoration effort. This ultimately resulted in the creation of the 1998 Clam Bay conservation area, now a county-designated Natural Resources Protection Area (NRPA). Several immediate actions were taken to address the decline of the mangroves, including dredging the entire Clam Bay system and installing culverts at Seagate. Nevertheless, the mortality of mangroves persisted, and by 2001, the affected area had grown to 50 acres. It was only after construction of miles of additional hand-dug flushing channels in the mangrove forest during late 2001 that the mangroves started to show signs of recovery. Since then, the condition of the affected area has steadily improved. Pelican Bay Services Division is responsible for maintaining over 13 miles of manually excavated channels, as well as the periodic dredging of Clam Pass. This hand-dug flushing channel measure has proven to be effective in the Clam Bay/Clam Pass ecosystem, and it has been replicated in the recent restoration of the vast mangrove die-off on Marco Island. Mangrove Action Group sponsors nature walks, ecosystem lectures, placement of bird boxes and other advocacy actions. Join us through our website, mangroveactiongroup. com, and at our meetings on the third Wednesday of each month at 1:30 p.m. at the Community Center. 103 Pelican Bay Member Guide 2025 PelicanBay.org
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