[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 184 (Tuesday, September 23, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56775-56776]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-22589]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 approval of the Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts National 
Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan Revision.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 approves the Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts National 
Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan revision. The revised 
management plan outlines the administrative structure; the research, 
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 Reserve Management Plan revision 
will replace the plan approved in 2006.
    The Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts National Estuarine Research Reserve 
takes an integrated approach to

[[Page 56776]]

management, linking research, education, training, and stewardship 
functions to address high-priority issues, 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 watershed.
    This management plan includes 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 anadromous 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 National Estuarine Research Reserve for the 
next five years. The Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research 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].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alison Krepp at (301) 563-7105 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.

    Dated: September 16, 2014.
Donna Rivelli,
Deputy Chief Financial Officer, National Ocean Service, National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-22589 Filed 9-22-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-08-P