[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 76 (Friday, April 18, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21117-21118]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-8345]


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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 Chesapeake Bay Maryland 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 Chesapeake Bay Maryland National Estuarine Research Reserve 
Management Plan Revision.
    The Chesapeake Bay Maryland National Estuarine Research Reserve has 
three sites; Monie Bay, Jug Bay, and Otter Point Creek. Monie Bay was 
designated as part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve in 1985 
and Jug Bay and Otter Point Creek were designated in 1990 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 1990. Pursuant to 15 CFR Section 921.33(c), a state must 
revise their management plan every five years. The submission of this 
plan brings the reserve into compliance and sets a course for 
successful implementation of

[[Page 21118]]

the goals and objectives of the reserve. A boundary expansion, new 
facilities, and updated programmatic objectives are notable revisions 
to the 1990 approved management plan.
    The revised management plan outlines the administrative structure; 
the education, stewardship, and research goals of the reserve; and the 
plans for future land acquisition and facility development to support 
reserve operations. Since 1990, the reserve has added a coastal 
training program that delivers science-based information to key 
decisionmakers in the Chesapeake Bay. The reserve has realized many 
aspects of the 1990 plan, including the completion of the Anita C. 
Leight Center in Harford County. This facility provides classrooms, lab 
space, exhibit space and office space and has allowed the 
implementation of research, education and volunteer activity at the 
Otter Point Creek component of the reserve.
    This management plan calls for a boundary expansion at two reserve 
sites: One thousand three hundred and forty-five acres are incorporated 
into the Jug Bay component site and approximately thirty-two acres will 
be incorporated into the Otter Point Creek site. The Otter Point Creek 
component will expand its land area from 443 to 475 acres. The land 
increase consists of two forested parcels adjacent to the current 
boundary that will serve as a buffer for core estuarine habitat and 
will also provide an important access point for monitoring and 
education programming. The expansion at Jug Bay includes land on both 
sides of the Patuxent River, increasing the acreage of this site from 
491 to 1,836. The original boundary for this component site included a 
portion of the county owned parks. This expansion incorporates a larger 
portion of those parks to become designated as part of the National 
Estuarine Research Reserves. West of the Patuxent River, the reserve 
will add 455 acres of wetlands and buffer lands that will enhance the 
protection of core reserve lands and will enhance the research and 
monitoring. East of the Patuxent River, the reserve will be expanded by 
890 acres to increase the level of protection surrounding the river and 
expand the area available for reserve programming.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Migliori at (301) 563-1126 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 Chesapeake Bay 
Management Plan revision, visit http://www.dnr.state.md.us/bay/cbnerr/.

    Dated: April 10, 2008.
David M. Kennedy,
Director, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. E8-8345 Filed 4-17-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P