In the 1972 Coastal Zone Management Act, Congress established the Estuarine Sanctuary Program in response to two government studies showing that estuaries are economically and ecologically valuable to man and that they are in danger of being physically altered and polluted. The program makes available fifty‐percent matching grants to coastal states to help them set aside estuarine areas for the purposes of research and education. The sanctuaries will serve as natural outdoor laboratories for scientists and the public, and will also help to preserve natural habitats for estuarine dependent species. The information gained within these areas will aid in future management decisions concerning the coastal zone. The sanctuaries are established and operated under the Estuarine Sanctuary Guidelines, which provide for three distinct types of grants: preacqui‐sition, acquisition, and operations. At the present time there are five sanctuaries in operation, with others in the planning stage. The five established sanctuaries are in South Slough, Oregon; Sapelo Island, Georgia; Waimanu, Hawaii; Old Woman Creek, Ohio; and Rookery Bay, Florida.