[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 163 (Thursday, August 21, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49475-49476]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-19436]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Herring River Restoration, Environmental Impact Statement, Cape 
Cod National Seashore, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Herring River Restoration, Cape Cod National Seashore.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Sec.  102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), the National Park 
Service is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement for the Herring 
River Restoration Project, Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts. 
This restoration project is being developed in partnership with the 
Town of Wellfleet and the Town of Truro, and in cooperation with 
Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Natural Resources 
Conservation Service. In addition to satisfying the requirements and 
intent of the NEPA, this Environmental Impact Statement will also be 
developed in compliance with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act 
(MEPA) and thus will result in a combined Environmental Impact 
Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR).
    The purpose of this project and EIS/EIR is to provide for the 
restoration of over 1100 acres of salt-marsh and estuarine habitat in 
the Herring River which has been degraded by diking and drainage since 
1909. Restoration is needed to: (1) Re-establish the physical 
connection between the estuary and Cape Cod Bay for natural material 
exchange and for access by marine animals including migratory fish; (2) 
restore aquatic habitat and ecosystem services both within the estuary 
and in receiving waters of Wellfleet Harbor by reversing the water-
quality impacts of 100 years of diking and drainage; (3) replace 
existing invasive exotic plant species with native salt-marsh species 
through the reestablishment of natural estuarine salinity; (4) restore 
ecosystem productivity through the reestablishment of naturally high 
tidal range; (5) minimize the long-term management and social costs of 
continued diking in the face of current, and likely accelerating, sea-
level rise; and (6) guide a phased, carefully monitored and adaptively 
managed long-term restoration program. The EIS/EIR will examine a range 
of feasible alternatives and evaluate potential impacts on natural 
resources, cultural resources, and the human environment.
    The public is invited to comment on the purpose, need, objectives, 
preliminary alternatives, or any other issues associated with the plan. 
A scoping newsletter has been prepared that details the purpose, need, 
and issues identified to date. The newsletter is available on-line at 
http://parkplanning.nps.gov. Select ``Cape Cod NS'' and follow the link 
to the Herring River Restoration EIS. Paper copies may also be obtained 
by e-mailing [email protected], or from Carrie Phillips, 
Cape Cod National Seashore, 99 Marconi Site Road, Wellfleet, MA 02667, 
508-349-3785.

DATES: The NPS will accept comments from the public regarding this 
Notice of Intent until October 31, 2008. In addition, public scoping 
meetings will be held in Wellfleet beginning in August 2008. Dates and 
times will be advertised in local newspapers, the park Web site (http://www.nps.gov/caco), the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment 
Web site (http://parkplanning.nps.gov) or contact Carrie Phillips, Cape 
Cod NS, at the address shown below.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by mail or hand delivery 
to Superintendent, Cape Cod National Seashore, 99 Marconi Site Road, 
Wellfleet, MA 02667. Comments may be submitted electronically at http://parkplanning.nps.gov, or by e-mail to [email protected]. 
Comments may also be provided at the public scoping meetings which will 
be held at the Wellfleet Senior Center (Council on Aging), 715 Old 
Kings Highway, Wellfleet, Massachusetts.
    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carrie Phillips, Cape Cod National 
Seashore, 99 Marconi Site Road, Wellfleet, MA 02667, 508-349-3785; e-
mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Herring River estuary comprised over 
half of the tidal marshes of Wellfleet Harbor prior to diking in 1909, 
provided 1100 acres of feeding, spawning and nursery habitat to 
thousands of species of resident and migratory marine and estuarine 
animals, and exported foods that promoted the high productivity of 
receiving waters throughout Wellfleet Bay. In particular, the river's 
herring and eel runs and shellfish beds were an economic and social 
focus of the maritime community. Thus the 1909 diking was 
controversial, and is increasingly so in light of the high ecological 
and social values of natural salt marshes identified over the past few 
decades. Since 1961, 80 percent of this estuary has been incorporated 
within the boundaries of Cape Cod National Seashore, a unit of the 
National Park Service responsible for preserving and restoring native 
ecosystems.
    Nearly 30 years of ecological research by National Park Service and 
cooperating scientists into the effects of

[[Page 49476]]

the 1909 diking of the Herring River estuary have documented chronic 
and severe water-quality problems and frequent fish kills. In response, 
the Town of Wellfleet in August 2005 appointed a Herring River 
Technical Committee, representing the Towns of Wellfleet and Truro, 
Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management, Cape Cod National Seashore, and 
other federal, state and regional resource-management agencies, to 
develop a Conceptual Restoration Plan. The Conceptual Restoration Plan 
was completed in October 2007 and accepted by the towns and the 
Seashore shortly thereafter under an agreement that further established 
a new Herring River Restoration Committee tasked with guiding the 
project through both federal NEPA and state MEPA review and developing 
a detailed restoration plan.
    Through an extensive preliminary scoping process conducted during 
the development of the Conceptual Restoration Plan, the Herring River 
Technical Committee identified these issues: Restoration of the 
estuary's functions through reconnection to the marine environment, 
improvement of surface-water quality, protection of shellfish beds, 
protection of potable groundwater quality, protection of adjacent 
private properties and public roadways, nuisance mosquito breeding, and 
exotic plants.
    In addition to the no action alternative, alternatives that could 
be considered in the EIS/EIR include full tidal restoration and a 
phased and incremental process of tidal restoration, monitoring and 
analysis of system response, public outreach and adaptive management.

    Dated: August 12, 2008.
Dennis R. Reidenbach,
Regional Director, Northeast Region, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. E8-19436 Filed 8-20-08; 8:45 am]
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