[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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