[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 8, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 44499]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15483]


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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 Public Comment Period for the Revised Management Plan 
for the Great Bay (New Hampshire) 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 is announcing a thirty day public comment period 
on the revised Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Management 
Plan which will begin on the day this announcement is published. 
Comments should be sent within the comment period in hard copy or e-
mail to Doris Grimm at [email protected] or NOAA's Estuarine 
Reserves Division, 1305 East-West Highway, N/ORM5, 10th Floor, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910.
    The Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve was designated in 
October 1989 pursuant to Section 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act 
of 1972, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 1461. Pursuant to 15 CFR 921.33(c), a 
state must revise its management plan every five years. The reserve has 
been operating under a management plan approved in 1989. The submission 
of this plan fulfills this requirement and sets a course for successful 
implementation of the goals and objectives of the reserve.
    Since the last management plan, the Great Bay Reserve has 
constructed needed facilities, increased its staff, changed its 
boundary, implemented several system-wide programs, and acquired key 
parcels of land. The original boundary included 4,471 acres of open 
water and salt marsh in Great Bay proper and 1,882 acres of upland. The 
boundary expansion includes 2,830 acres of additional open and salt 
marsh in Little Bay and several tidal rivers as well as 1,052 acres of 
upland. This expansion also includes all of the Federal lands under the 
Great Bay National Wildlife refuge that was established in 1992.
    The expanded boundary is a more comprehensive representation of the 
natural communities within the Southern Gulf of Maine province of the 
Acadian bio-geographic region of the United States. Great Bay serves as 
a natural field laboratory for researchers and the boundary expansion 
will increase and diversify the areas capable of supporting NERRS long-
term research and monitoring, including opportunities for extensive 
upland research. The boundary expansion also increases the Reserve's 
opportunities for educating the public about the estuarine system.
    This new management plan serves as the primary guidance document 
for the operation of the Great Bay Reserve's core and system-wide 
programs in research and monitoring, education and coastal training, 
and resource management and stewardship. The plan provides guidance on 
the acquisition of land to be added to the Reserve and on the 
construction and renovation of buildings and exhibits that support NERR 
programs. It also guides the Reserve in important related programs, 
such as volunteerism and outreach to communities to encourage 
stewardship of coastal resources in the Great Bay area.
    The Great Bay Reserve is administered through the New Hampshire 
Fish and Game Department. The Reserve is a part of the Marine Fisheries 
Division, which is based in Durham, New Hampshire. The Reserve also 
works closely with the New Hampshire Coastal Program and the New 
Hampshire Estuaries Project, as well as many other partners, such as 
the University of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Department of 
Environmental Services, to meet its goals and objectives.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doris Grimm at (301) 563-7107 or 
Laurie McGilvray 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. For copies of the Wells Management Plan 
revision, visit http://www.reserve.org.

     Dated: August 2, 2007.
David M. Kennedy,
Director, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. E7-15483 Filed 8-7-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-08-P