[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 2083]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-506]


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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 revised Jobos Bay 
National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan.

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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 public comment period 
for the review of the revised Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research 
Reserve Management Plan.
    The Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve was designated in 
1981 pursuant to Section 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 
1972, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 1461. The Reserve has been operating in 
partnership with the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and 
Environmental Resources under a management plan approved in 2000. 
Pursuant to 15 CFR Section 921.33(c), a state must revise their 
management plan every five years. The submission of this plan fulfills 
this requirement and sets a course for successful implementation of the 
goals and objectives of the Reserve.
    Since 2000, the Reserve has added an estuary training program that 
delivers science-based information to key decision makers in Puerto 
Rico; completed a characterization of the Reserve's benthic habitats 
and watershed land use and land cover; acquired new parcels of land 
behind the visitor center and in the offshore keys; constructed a new 
pier to support reserve operations; and expanded the monitoring, 
stewardship and education programs.
    Notable updates in the 2011-2016 management plan include priorities 
for new facilities, updated programmatic objectives, and a boundary 
expansion to include the lands that have been purchased since the last 
management plan was approved. The additional parcels included in the 
reserve boundary include 416.9 acres of mangrove, upland forest and 
salt flat habitats.
    The revised management plan outlines the administrative structure; 
the education, stewardship, and research goals of the Reserve; and the 
plans for future land acquisition and facility development to support 
Reserve operations. This management plan describes how the strengths of 
the Reserve will focus on several issues relevant to the Jobos Bay, 
Puerto Rico and the broader Caribbean region, including sea level rise 
and other effects of climate change, development pressure, and tourism.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nina Garfield at (301) 563-1171 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. For copies of the Jobos Bay Management 
Plan revision, visit: http://jbnerr.org.

    Dated: December 22, 2010.
Donna Wieting,
Director, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2011-506 Filed 1-11-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-08-P