[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 107 (Wednesday, June 4, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32225-32226]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12929]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Estuarine Research Reserve System
AGENCY: Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal
Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Public Comment Period for the Waquoit Bay,
Massachusetts National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan
revision.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Estuarine Reserves Division,
Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean
Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce is announcing a thirty day public comment period
for the Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts National Estuarine Research Reserve
Management Plan revision.
The Waquoit Bay Reserve revised plan will replace the plan approved
in 2006. The revised management plan outlines the administrative
structure; the research & monitoring, education, training, and
stewardship goals of the reserve; and the plans for future land
acquisition and facility development to support reserve operations. The
revised management plan will serve as the guiding document for the
2,804 acre Waquoit Bay Reserve for the next five years.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Migliori at (301) 563-1126 or
Erica Seiden at (301) 563-1172 of NOAA's National Ocean Service,
Estuarine Reserves Division, 1305 East-West Highway, N/ORM5, 10th
floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to 15 CFR 921.33(c), the revised
plan meets the reserve's requirements for compliance. The Waquoit Bay
Reserve revised plan will replace the plan approved in 2006.
The revised management plan outlines the administrative structure;
the research & monitoring, education, training, and stewardship goals
of the reserve; and the plans for future land acquisition and facility
development to support reserve operations.
The Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts Reserve takes an integrated approach
to management, linking research, education, training and stewardship
functions to address high priority issues
[[Page 32226]]
including the impact of climate change on estuarine ecosystems;
connections between watershed land-use and water quality; assessment of
ecosystem response to natural variability and human impacts; and
understanding and enhancing ecosystem services of coastal habitats.
Since the last management plan, the reserve implemented its core
programs, expanded its monitoring infrastructure to establish a
groundwater monitoring program and a Salt Marsh Observatory; enhanced
its facilities with energy efficiency installations, campus building
improvements, and updated educational exhibits; and furthered land
conservation in the reserve's watersheds.
This management plan calls for a boundary expansion of 23 acres.
The lands consist of the 11.4 acre Caleb Pond parcel on the northeast
corner of Waquoit Bay as well as the addition of 12.4 acres to the
Quashnet River lands. The Caleb Pond parcel is the largest single
undeveloped parcel on Waquoit Bay and contains an upland coastal pine-
oak forest habitat with fringing salt marsh and a connecting stream
that contains diadromous fish runs of American eel and has historically
supported an anadramous river herring run. The parcel is especially
suitable for educational purposes and creates 40 acres of contiguous
protected lands across the head of Waquoit Bay. The Quashnet River land
parcel expands important contiguous and unfragmented habitat that is
valuable as wildlife habitat and corridor as well as increases
protection of terrestrial, groundwater, and aquatic systems. This
parcel is appropriate for education, recreation, and upland research
purposes.
The revised management plan will serve as the guiding document for
the 2,804 acre Waquoit Bay Reserve for the next five years. The Waquoit
Bay Reserve Management Plan revision can be viewed at (http://www.waquoitbayreserve.org/about/management-plan/). Comments can be
provided to the Reserve Manager at [email protected].
Dated: May 29, 2014.
Christopher C. Cartwright,
Associate Assistant Administrator for Management and CFO/CAO, Ocean
Services and Coastal Zone Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-12929 Filed 6-3-14; 8:45 am]
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