[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 190 (Thursday, October 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Page 59138]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-25090]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Mission-Aransas, Texas National Estuarine Research Reserve
Management Plan Revision; Notice of Public Comment Period
AGENCY: Stewardship Division, Office for Coastal Management, National
Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Stewardship Division, Office
for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce is announcing a
thirty day public comment period for the Mission-Aransas, Texas
National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan revision. Pursuant
to 15 CFR 921.33(c), the revised plan will bring the reserve into
compliance. The Mission-Aransas Reserve revised plan will replace the
plan approved in 2006.
The revised management plan outlines the administrative structure;
the research/monitoring, stewardship, education, and training programs
of the reserve; and the plans for future land acquisition and facility
development to support reserve operations.
The Mission-Aransas Reserve takes an integrated approach to
management, linking research, education, coastal training, and
stewardship functions. The Reserve has outlined how it will manage
administration and its core program providing detailed actions that
will enable it to accomplish specific goals and objectives. Since the
last management plan, the Reserve has built out its core programs and
monitoring infrastructure; constructed several facilities including a
L.E.E.D. certified Estuarine Research Center that serves as the reserve
headquarters and includes laboratories, offices, classrooms,
interpretative areas and dormitories; and built new partnerships with
organizations along the Coastal Bend of Texas.
With the approval of this management plan, the Mission-Aransas
Reserve will increase their total acreage from 185,708 acres to
186,189. The change is attributable to the recent acquisitions of
several parcels by Reserve partners, totaling 481 acres. All of the
proposed additions are owned by existing Reserve partners and will be
managed for long-term protection and conservation value. These parcels
have high ecological value and will enhance the Reserve's ability to
provide increased opportunities for research, education, and
stewardship. The revised management plan will serve as the guiding
document for the expanded 186,189 acre Mission-Aransas Reserve for the
next five years.
View the Mission-Aransas, Texas Reserve Management Plan revision at
(https://sites.cns.utexas.edu/manerr/about/management-plan) and provide
comments to ([email protected]).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt Chasse at (301) 563-1198 or Erica
Seiden at (301) 563-1172 of NOAA's National Ocean Service, Stewardship
Division, Office for Coastal Management, 1305 East-West Highway, N/
ORM5, 10th Floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
Dated: September 23, 2015.
John King,
Deputy Director, Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2015-25090 Filed 9-30-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-08-P