[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 206 (Tuesday, October 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 65613]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-27068]
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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 Comment Period for Revised Management Plans for the
following National Estuarine Research Reserves: North Inlet-Winyah Bay,
SC and San Francisco Bay, CA.
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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 comment period for
the revised management plans of the North Inlet-Winyah Bay, SC National
Estuarine Research Reserve and the San Francisco Bay, CA National
Estuarine Research Reserve.
The revised management plan for the North Inlet-Winyah Bay, SC
National Estuarine Research Reserve outlines the administrative
structure; the education, training, stewardship, and research programs
of the reserve; and the plans for future land acquisition and facility
development to support reserve operations. The goals described in this
plan are designed to provide a framework that supports program
integration based on priority issues defined by the reserve. The
objectives described in this plan are designed to address the most
critical coastal issues in North Inlet-Winyah Bay such as impacts from
coastal and watershed development, climate events on coastal ecosystems
and human communities, and invasive species impacts on habitat loss and
biodiversity. Since the last approved management plan in 1992, the
reserve has become fully staffed; added a Coastal Training Program that
delivers science-based information to key decision makers; and added
significant monitoring of emergent marsh vegetation, invasive species,
water quality, and bird populations. In addition to programmatic and
staffing advances, the reserve upgraded its headquarters building with
a 4500 square foot structure to support research, stewardship, and the
coastal training programs that includes six offices, a monitoring lab,
and library. In cooperation with the Belle W. Baruch Foundation, a
12,500 square foot education facility was developed to support reserve
educational programs and includes interpretive exhibits, aquaria,
classrooms, and education staff offices, as well as an outdoor
classroom. This plan can be accessed for review at http://www.northinlet.sc.edu.
The revised management plan for the San Francisco Bay National
Estuarine Research Reserve outlines a framework of overarching goals
and program specific objectives that will guide the education,
training, research, and developing stewardship programs of the reserve;
describes land acquisition and boundary expansion; as well as outlines
plans for facility use and development to support reserve operations.
The goals and objectives put forth in this plan focus programmatic
efforts on four critical issues that affect the reserve's ability to
conserve ecological communities in support of the Bay's growing
population: climate change, species interactions, water quality, and
habitat restoration. Broadly, the goals for each of these issues
include increasing knowledge, understanding effects, and improving the
ability of partners and stakeholders to respond to these issues. The
goals described in this plan are designed to provide a framework that
supports program integration for collaborative management of the San
Francisco Bay Reserve.
Since the last approved management plan in 2003, the reserve has a
full complement of core staff; established a research lab, fully
operational System-wide Monitoring Program, and Graduate Research
Fellowship Program; added a Coastal Training Program that delivers
science-based information to key decision makers; developed education
programs focused on sharing estuarine research with non-academic
audiences; and constructed facilities to support essential functions of
the reserve at its headquarters on the Romberg Tiburon Center campus of
San Francisco State University. These facilities include office space
for staff, classroom space, laboratory, and meeting facilities. The
reserve has also constructed facilities and interpretive exhibits at
its components sites, China Camp State Park and Rush Ranch Open Space
Preserve, that support on-site research and educational programs. This
plan can be accessed for review at http://www.sfbaynerr.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alison Krepp at (301) 563-7105 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.
Dated: October 8, 2010.
Donna Wieting,
Acting Director, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-27068 Filed 10-25-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-08-P