[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 155 (Thursday, August 13, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40814-40815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-19284]


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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 Management Plan 
for the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve.

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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 
on the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve Management 
Plan Revision.
    The Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve consists 
of public lands within the Mullica River-Great Bay watershed of New 
Jersey and managed by a variety of local, state, and federal agencies. 
The site was designated as the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine 
Research Reserve in 1998 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 Institute of Marine and Coastal 
Sciences of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey under a 
management plan approved in 1997. Pursuant to 15 CFR 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. A boundary 
expansion and land conservation initiative, new facilities, and updated 
programmatic objectives are notable revisions to the 1997 approved 
management plan.
    The revised management plan outlines the administrative structure; 
the research, coastal training, education and outreach, and stewardship 
goals of the reserve; and the plans for future land acquisition and 
facility development to support reserve operations. This management 
plan describes how the reserve will focus on three key coastal 
management issues: Nutrient inputs into coastal waters; human 
alteration of habitat and water quality; and effects of climate change 
on coastal and estuarine systems.
    Since 1997, the reserve has completed a site profile that 
characterizes the reserve; they have also expanded the coastal 
training, research and monitoring, stewardship and education programs 
significantly. A new administrative building, the Jacques Cousteau 
Coastal Center, and a new interpretive exhibit, ``Life on the Edge'' at 
the Tuckerton Seaport, have been built to support the growth of reserve 
programs.
    With the approval of this management plan, the Jacques Cousteau 
National Estuarine Research Reserve will expand their total acreage 
from 114,665 acres to 114,873 acres. This change is

[[Page 40815]]

attributable to the acquisition of four parcels within the Mullica 
River watershed through a partnership with New Jersey Conservation 
Foundation and the continued implementation of the Mullica River 
Conservation Initiative. The acquisition of Bear Creek Preserve (100 
acres), Hanselman Preserve (57 acres), Rudolph Property (31 acres), and 
Lee Property (20 acres) provides additional buffer areas (mixed pitch 
pine-scrub oak upland, Atlantic white cedar forest) for key land and 
water areas (salt marsh flats, tidal wetlands).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Migliori at (301) 563-1126 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 Jacques Cousteau 
Management Plan revision, visit http://www.jcnerr.org/.

    Dated: August 3, 2009.
David M. Kennedy,
Director, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. E9-19284 Filed 8-12-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-08-M