[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 112 (Friday, June 11, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31541-31542]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-14906]
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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 approval and availability of revision to the final
revised management plan for the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research
Reserve, 1998-2003.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Estuarine Reserves Division
(ERD), Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, has approved
the revised Management Plan for the Weeks Bay National Estuarine
Research Reserve (WBNERR). WBNERR was designated in 1986 and has been
operating under a Management Plan approved in 1985. Pursuant to Section
315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act, 16 U.S.C., Section 1461, and
Section 921.33(c) of the implementing regulations, a state must revise
its management plan at least every five years, or more often if
necessary. This revision is Alabama's effort to comply with this
requirement.
The revisions to the WBNERR Management Plan provide a more complete
and updated articulation of reserve goals, objectives, and activities
in the areas of administration, research/monitoring, stewardship,
education/interpretation, boundaries/acquisition/facilities
construction, and the volunteer program for a five year period from
1998 to 2003. The plan will increase community awareness and
understanding of the Weeks Bay estuary through Reserve programs and
partnerships. Highlights include:
1. Staffing. The revised Management Plan increases Reserve staff,
including the addition of a full-time Research Coordinator to manage
the System-wide Monitoring Program, initiate research and secure
research funds, and support third party research activities in the
Reserve boundaries.
2. Future Boundary Expansion and Land Acquisition. The revised
Management Plan identifies the five
[[Page 31542]]
tracts of land (191 acres) currently held by the Weeks Bay Reserve
Foundation as areas to be incorporated into the Reserve boundaries in
the future. It initiates a land acquisition plan that identifies and
prioritizes key ecological areas for future acquisition and/or
protection.
3. Core and Buffer Areas. The revised Management Plan establishes
the water bottoms within the Reserve boundaries up to mean high tide as
the core area of the Reserve and the Reserve land areas as buffer to
protect the core and provide additional protection for estuarine-
dependent species.
4. Facilities. Under the revised Management Plan, the Reserve
administration will improve existing facilities and develop buildings
and boardwalks adjacent to the Interpretive Center to optimize the
stewardship function of the Reserve with respect to resource
protection, research, and education while maintaining a low impact on
the immediate resources in that area.
5. Education. The revised Management Plan calls for the design and
implementation of comprehensive programs of education and
interpretation for all audiences to strengthen understanding,
appreciation and stewardship of estuaries, coastal habitats and
associated watersheds.
6. Research, Monitoring, and Coastal Decision Making. The revised
Management Plan provides for the use of the System-wide Monitoring
Program information and other research to provide a basis within the
watershed for better informed decisions on the part of public and
private users of the watershed.
7. Resource Protection. The revised Management Plan incorporates
portions of the Weeks Bay Watershed Management Plan which has been
developed to improve the water quality in Weeks Bay and the Weeks Bay
watershed.
8. Habitat Restoration. The revised Management Plan describes
current restoration of Reserve habitats (e.g. the pitcher plant bog,
the southwest Weeks Bay shoreline). It establishes a process to
identify and prioritize other habitats that have been degraded by human
impact or have been disturbed leading to decreased productivity/
biodiversity within the Reserve ecosystem.
The impacts of the WBNERR Management Plan have not changed and the
initial Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prepared at the time of
designation remains valid. NOAA has made the determination that the
proposed project will not have a significant effect on the human
environment and therefore qualifies for a categorical exclusion under
NOAA Administrative Order 216-6. An environmental assessment will not
be prepared.
Copies of the document can be obtained from the Weeks National
Estuarine Research Reserve, 11300 US Highway 98, Fairhope, Alabama
36532. (334) 928-9792.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nathalie Peter, OCRM, Estuarine
Reserves Division, 1305 East-West Highway, 11th Floor (N/ORM5),
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910. (301) 713-3132, extension 119.
Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog Number 11.420 (Coastal Zone
Management) Research Reserves
Dated: June 3, 1999.
Ted Lillestolen,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone
Management.
[FR Doc. 99-14906 Filed 6-10-99; 8:45 am]
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