[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 11 (Thursday, January 16, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2318-2319]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-939]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Announcement of Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve 
Revised Management Plan Including a Boundary Expansion

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 the final revised 
management plan for the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research 
Reserve.

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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 (NOAA), U.S. 
Department of Commerce has approved the revised management plan, which 
includes an expansion of the boundary of the reserve, for the Rookery 
Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.
    The Rookery Bay Reserve was designated in 1978 pursuant to Section 
315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 
1461. The reserve has been operating under a management plan approved 
in 1995. Pursuant to 15 CFR Section 921.33(c), a state must revise 
their management plan every five years. The submission of this plan 
fulfills this requirement and sets a course for successful 
implementation of the goals and objectives of the reserve.
    The mission of the Rookery Bay Reserve is to provide a basis for 
informed coastal decisions by communities in Southwest Florida through 
site-based estuarine research, stewardship and education. The 
management plan identifies four priority resource issues that are 
addressed through active management. These priority issues are (1) 
changing land use in adjacent watersheds that impact freshwater 
inflows, (2) loss of native biodiversity due to invasive plants and 
animals, (3) increased public use of reserves resources, and (4) the 
need to monitor catastrophic storm events, red tides and global climate 
change. Rookery Bay's management plan addresses these issues with 
specific programs for resource management and protection, research and 
monitoring, education and training, public access and visitor use, 
program administration, and partnerships and regional coordination.
    The plan identifies management goals, priority resource management 
issues or threats that these goals must address, and specific 
strategies to accomplish these goals. The plan incorporates a 
modification of an adaptive management approach to ecosystems proposed 
by Morrison et al. (1998), which seeks a science-based approach to 
environmental management.
    The resource management and protection program addresses issues 
such as land acquisition, habitat and hydrological restoration, 
invasive species control and eradication, and listed species 
protection. The reserve manages important habitats and performs 
activities such as controlled burns to sustain native biodiversity.
    The research and monitoring program includes studies on mangrove 
and oyster reef ecology, restoration ecology, estuarine fishes, 
nutrient cycling and the impacts of mosquito control aerial spraying. 
Staff and visiting researchers conduct monitoring and research within 
the watersheds and boundaries of the reserve and use GIS to map 
critical habitats and flow ways. The results of their work is critical 
for use in adaptive management of the reserve.
    The education and training program at the reserve targets a wide 
variety of audiences including students, teachers, adults, resource 
users and environmental professionals. The reserve is building a 14,700 
square foot environmental learning center to conduct training programs 
on environmental issues important to Southwest Florida.
    The public access and visitor use program at Rookery Bay includes 
developing a network of aquatic and terrestrial trails and boardwalks 
to provide for increased access to reserve resources. Visitor use 
policies are designed to provide for compatible use

[[Page 2319]]

and protection of valuable natural resources.
    The administration program ensures the staffing and budget 
necessary to carry out the goals and objectives of the plan; and, the 
partnerships and regional coordination program defines the range of 
partners that the reserve works with to achieve their goals. The 
reserve serves as the Southwest Florida region headquarters for the 
Florida Department of Environmental Protection Aquatic and Buffer 
Preserve field offices in Tampa Bay, Charlotte Harbor and Estero Bay. 
Rookery Bay also works with a plethora of organizations ranging from 
local governments, community groups, state and federal agencies, and 
international partners in China.
    The boundary expansion incorporates adjacent state-owned coastal 
and submerged lands of the Rookery Bay Aquatic Preserve and the Cape 
Romano/Ten Thousand Islands Aquatic Preserve. Incorporating these lands 
increases the size of the reserve from 9,400 acres to 110,000 acres. 
The expansion will provide a contiguous estuarine ecosystem with a 
broader diversity of habitats not found within the old boundary of the 
reserve. Habitats within the new boundary of the reserve include 
abundant seagrass communities, tropical hardwood hammocks, coastal 
strand and barrier beach communities, cypress slough and prairies, and 
live bottom communities.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erica H. Seiden at (301) 563-1172 or 
Laurie McGilvray at (301) 563-1158 of NOAA's National Ocean Service, 
Estuarine Reserves Division, 1305 East-West Highway, N/ORM5, 11th 
floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

    Dated: December 23, 2002.
Jamison S. Hawkins,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Ocean Services and Coastal Zone 
Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 03-939 Filed 1-15-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-08-P