[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 30, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51576-51577]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-14430]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Announcement of Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve 
Revised Management Plan

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 Waquoit 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 for the 
Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (Reserve).
    The Reserve was designated in 1988 pursuant to Section 315 of the 
Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 1461 and has 
been operating under the management plan approved in 2000. Pursuant to 
15 CFR Section 921.33(c), a state must revise its management plan every 
five years. The submission of this plan fulfills this requirement and 
sets a course for

[[Page 51577]]

successful implementation of the goals and objectives of the Reserve.
    The mission of the Reserve management plan is to improve the 
stewardship of the region's estuarine and coastal watershed ecosystems. 
The management plan identifies the following priority issues facing the 
Reserve: Water quality/eutrophication/watershed land-use; climate 
change/sea level rise/shoreline change; and assessment of ecosystem 
response to natural variability and human impacts.
    The management plan identifies five goals that are addressed 
through active management. The goals are (l) improve the understanding 
of coastal ecosystems and the human influences on them, (2) improve 
environmental literacy in communities to enable environmentally-
sustainable decision-making, (3) demonstrate sustainable stewardship of 
the land and water ecosystems within the Reserve to serve as a model 
for community stewardship in the region, (4) foster dialogue and 
development of coastal ecosystem management solutions through sustained 
community engagement, (5) improve operations, infrastructure and 
stature of the Reserve.
    The Reserve's management plan addresses these goals with specific 
programs for resource management and protection and stewardship, 
research and monitoring, education and training, public access and 
visitor use, program administration, and partnerships and regional 
coordination.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doris Grimm at (301) 563-7101 or Kate 
Barba, Acting Chief, Estuarine Reserves Division at (301) 563-1158 of 
NOAA's National Ocean Service, Estuarine Reserves Division, 1305 East-
West Highway, N/ORM5, 10th floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

    Dated: August 25, 2006.
David M. Kennedy,
Director, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
 [FR Doc. E6-14430 Filed 8-29-06; 8:45 am]
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