Marine Life Protection Act in 1999, over-fishing and other human activity gravely threatened populations of rockfish, sea otters, and salmon off the Big Sur coast. Today, many visitors to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, a popular attraction, may not be aware that the law (which NRDC played an instrumental role in drafting) effectively extends the purview of California's famed parks system out into the Pacific. Covering a combined area of 22.36 square miles are two adjacent marine protected areas, Big Creek State Marine Reserve and Big Creek State Marine Conservation Area. In both, the removal of any marine resources -including fish-is prohibited, with only a few exceptions.
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