Notice2022-02074
Draft Revised Management Plan for the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 2, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is soliciting comments from the public regarding a proposed revision of the management plan for the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. A management plan provides a framework for the direction and timing of a reserve's programs; allows reserve managers to assess a reserve's success in meeting its goals and to identify any necessary changes in direction; and is used to guide programmatic evaluations of the reserve. Plan revisions are required of each reserve in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System at least every five years. This revised plan is intended to replace the plan approved in 2018.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 22 (Wednesday, February 2, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 2, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5799-5800]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-02074]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Draft Revised Management Plan for the Grand Bay National
Estuarine Research Reserve
AGENCY: Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Request for comments on draft revised management plan.
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SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is
soliciting comments from the public regarding a proposed revision of
the management plan for the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research
Reserve. A management plan provides a framework for the direction and
timing of a reserve's programs; allows reserve managers to assess a
reserve's success in meeting its goals and to identify any necessary
changes in direction; and is used to guide programmatic evaluations of
the reserve. Plan revisions are required of each reserve in the
National Estuarine Research Reserve System at least every five years.
This revised plan
[[Page 5800]]
is intended to replace the plan approved in 2018.
DATES: Comments are due by March 4, 2022.
ADDRESSES: The draft revised management plan is available at:
<a href="http://grandbaynerr.org/reserve-management-plan/">grandbaynerr.org/reserve-management-plan/</a>, or by emailing Matt Chasse
of NOAA's Office for Coastal Management at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1f727e6b6b317c777e6c6c7a5f71707e7e31787069"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fd909c8989d39e959c8e8e98bd93929c9cd39a928b">[email protected]</span></a>.
You may submit comments by the following method:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments by
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c8a5a9bcbce6aba0a9bbbbad88a6a7a9a9e6afa7be"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b8d5d9cccc96dbd0d9cbcbddf8d6d7d9d996dfd7ce">[email protected]</span></a> and <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#17766e72647f76397065766e57737a65397a6439707861"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="55342c30263d347b3227342c153138277b38267b323a23">[email protected]</span></a>. Include
``Comments on draft Grand Bay Reserve Management Plan'' in the
message's subject line.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt Chasse of NOAA's Office for
Coastal Management at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7a171b0e0e5419121b09091f3a14151b1b541d150c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5e333f2a2a703d363f2d2d3b1e30313f3f70393128">[email protected]</span></a> or (240) 628-5417.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to 15 CFR 921.33(c), a State must
revise the management plan for the research reserve at least every five
years. If approved by NOAA, the Grand Bay Reserve's revised plan will
replace the plan previously approved in 2013.
The draft revised management plan outlines the reserve's strategic
goals and objectives; administrative structure; programs for conducting
research and monitoring, education, and training; resource protection,
restoration, and manipulation plans; public access and visitor use
plans; consideration for future land acquisition; and facility
development to support reserve operations. In particular, this draft of
the revised management plan focuses on addressing specific research
priorities, including restoration effectiveness monitoring;
understating physical and hydrological processes within the reserve;
sources and impacts of contaminants; and the socio-economic impacts of
ecosystem restoration. There is also an added focus related to
monitoring programs as a valued regional and national reference site
through the use of abiotic parameters, sentinel sites, atmospheric
mercury, and restoration monitoring. Furthermore, the plan prioritizes
improving public access and the visitor experience through enhanced
trail and debris management efforts, and a greater focus on habitat
restoration, especially upland habitats (e.g., wet pine savannas and
flatwoods) and along the marsh upland interface. Much of the effort in
this plan is linked to the multi-year Grand Bay Land Acquisition and
Habitat Management project. The reserve will also pursue research
designed to protect shorelines and re-establish viable oyster
populations in this area of the Mississippi coast. Another priority
identified in the plan calls for reserve investments in the maintenance
and upgrade of the existing facilities and monitoring infrastructure.
The reserve's training program will design trainings around
priority issues, such as invasive species, habitat restoration, coastal
and estuarine processes, marsh and uplands ecology, coastal habitats,
sea level rise, and community resilience. A new focus area of the
reserve identified in the plan is the transfer of skills and knowledge
relating to flood mitigation to nearby disadvantaged communities.
Education programming will have a continued emphasis on place-based
learning for students, teachers, non-traditional audiences (i.e.,
artists, veterans, seniors and others). New programs will be added to
target non-traditional reserve audiences, such as, pre-K students,
people with disabilities, seniors, and other groups. These new programs
will create opportunities for people who do not typically use the
reserve or participate in reserve events.
Reserve research continues to generate peer-reviewed and published
research about the estuary. The reserve has expanded its role in
restoring coastal habitats through the Natural Resource Damage
Assessment funded `Land Acquisition and Habitat Management Project' in
areas adjacent to the reserve. Reserve research and monitoring
capabilities have also been integrated into habitat restoration
projects and bring a new level of monitoring effectiveness for this
type of project. In recent years, the reserve's monitoring efforts have
confirmed the nitrogen limitations of the estuary, contributed to a
national analyses of sediment elevation table data, and helped create
digital elevation models for the reserve's sentinel sites.
The reserve successfully conducted a 2019 assessment of municipal
officials that identified priorities for coastal training programming.
These results were incorporated into the revised plan. In addition to
success of the K-12 student-focused `On the Road' program, the reserve
has emphasized place-based learning opportunities for the public, K-12
students, teachers, and non-traditional audiences (i.e., artists,
veterans, seniors, pre-K students, people with disabilities, and other
non-traditional groups). Engaging with non-traditional audiences has
been a successful endeavor for this reserve.
Since the last management plan, the reserve has prioritized the
comprehensive management of upland and estuarine resources at a
landscape scale. Public trails were created or maintained, and boat
access was improved. The reserve has actively used fire management to
restore wet pine savanna in collaboration with State and Federal
partners. The revised management plan, once approved, would serve as
the guiding document for the 18,049-acre research reserve for the next
five years.
NOAA's Office for Coastal Management analyzes the environmental
impacts of the proposed approval of this draft revised management plan
in accordance with section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), and the Council
on Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural
Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508). The public is invited to comment
on the draft revised management plan. NOAA will take these comments
into consideration in deciding whether to approve the draft revised
management plan in whole or in part.
(Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.; 15 CFR 921.33.)
Keelin S. Kuipers,
Deputy Director, Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-02074 Filed 2-1-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-NK-P
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