[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 107 (Wednesday, June 4, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32225-32226]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12929]


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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 Waquoit Bay, 
Massachusetts National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan 
revision.

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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, U.S. 
Department of Commerce is announcing a thirty day public comment period 
for the Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts National Estuarine Research Reserve 
Management Plan revision.
    The Waquoit Bay Reserve revised plan will replace the plan approved 
in 2006. The revised management plan outlines the administrative 
structure; the research & monitoring, education, training, and 
stewardship goals of the reserve; and the plans for future land 
acquisition and facility development to support reserve operations. The 
revised management plan will serve as the guiding document for the 
2,804 acre Waquoit Bay Reserve for the next five years.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Migliori at (301) 563-1126 or 
Erica Seiden at (301) 563-1172 of NOAA's National Ocean Service, 
Estuarine Reserves Division, 1305 East-West Highway, N/ORM5, 10th 
floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to 15 CFR 921.33(c), the revised 
plan meets the reserve's requirements for compliance. The Waquoit Bay 
Reserve revised plan will replace the plan approved in 2006.
    The revised management plan outlines the administrative structure; 
the research & monitoring, education, training, and stewardship goals 
of the reserve; and the plans for future land acquisition and facility 
development to support reserve operations.
    The Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts Reserve takes an integrated approach 
to management, linking research, education, training and stewardship 
functions to address high priority issues

[[Page 32226]]

including the impact of climate change on estuarine ecosystems; 
connections between watershed land-use and water quality; assessment of 
ecosystem response to natural variability and human impacts; and 
understanding and enhancing ecosystem services of coastal habitats. 
Since the last management plan, the reserve implemented its core 
programs, expanded its monitoring infrastructure to establish a 
groundwater monitoring program and a Salt Marsh Observatory; enhanced 
its facilities with energy efficiency installations, campus building 
improvements, and updated educational exhibits; and furthered land 
conservation in the reserve's watersheds.
    This management plan calls for a boundary expansion of 23 acres. 
The lands consist of the 11.4 acre Caleb Pond parcel on the northeast 
corner of Waquoit Bay as well as the addition of 12.4 acres to the 
Quashnet River lands. The Caleb Pond parcel is the largest single 
undeveloped parcel on Waquoit Bay and contains an upland coastal pine-
oak forest habitat with fringing salt marsh and a connecting stream 
that contains diadromous fish runs of American eel and has historically 
supported an anadramous river herring run. The parcel is especially 
suitable for educational purposes and creates 40 acres of contiguous 
protected lands across the head of Waquoit Bay. The Quashnet River land 
parcel expands important contiguous and unfragmented habitat that is 
valuable as wildlife habitat and corridor as well as increases 
protection of terrestrial, groundwater, and aquatic systems. This 
parcel is appropriate for education, recreation, and upland research 
purposes.
    The revised management plan will serve as the guiding document for 
the 2,804 acre Waquoit Bay Reserve for the next five years. The Waquoit 
Bay Reserve Management Plan revision can be viewed at (http://www.waquoitbayreserve.org/about/management-plan/). Comments can be 
provided to the Reserve Manager at [email protected].

    Dated: May 29, 2014.
Christopher C. Cartwright,
Associate Assistant Administrator for Management and CFO/CAO, Ocean 
Services and Coastal Zone Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-12929 Filed 6-3-14; 8:45 am]
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