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Herring River Restoration, Environmental Impact Statement, Cape Cod National Seashore, MA

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[Federal Register: August 21, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 163)]
[Notices]
[Page 49475-49476]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21au08-61]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service

Herring River Restoration, Environmental Impact Statement, Cape
Cod National Seashore, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
for the Herring River Restoration, Cape Cod National Seashore.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Sec.  102(2)(C) of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), the National Park
Service is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement for the Herring
River Restoration Project, Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts.
This restoration project is being developed in partnership with the
Town of Wellfleet and the Town of Truro, and in cooperation with
Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Natural Resources
Conservation Service. In addition to satisfying the requirements and
intent of the NEPA, this Environmental Impact Statement will also be
developed in compliance with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act
(MEPA) and thus will result in a combined Environmental Impact
Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR).
    The purpose of this project and EIS/EIR is to provide for the
restoration of over 1100 acres of salt-marsh and estuarine habitat in
the Herring River which has been degraded by diking and drainage since
1909. Restoration is needed to: (1) Re-establish the physical
connection between the estuary and Cape Cod Bay for natural material
exchange and for access by marine animals including migratory fish; (2)
restore aquatic habitat and ecosystem services both within the estuary
and in receiving waters of Wellfleet Harbor by reversing the water-
quality impacts of 100 years of diking and drainage; (3) replace
existing invasive exotic plant species with native salt-marsh species
through the reestablishment of natural estuarine salinity; (4) restore
ecosystem productivity through the reestablishment of naturally high
tidal range; (5) minimize the long-term management and social costs of
continued diking in the face of current, and likely accelerating, sea-
level rise; and (6) guide a phased, carefully monitored and adaptively
managed long-term restoration program. The EIS/EIR will examine a range
of feasible alternatives and evaluate potential impacts on natural
resources, cultural resources, and the human environment.
    The public is invited to comment on the purpose, need, objectives,
preliminary alternatives, or any other issues associated with the plan.
A scoping newsletter has been prepared that details the purpose, need,
and issues identified to date. The newsletter is available on-line at
http://parkplanning.nps.gov. Select ``Cape Cod NS'' and follow the link
to the Herring River Restoration EIS. Paper copies may also be obtained
by e-mailing CACO_Herring_River@nps.gov, or from Carrie Phillips,
Cape Cod National Seashore, 99 Marconi Site Road, Wellfleet, MA 02667,
508-349-3785.

DATES: The NPS will accept comments from the public regarding this
Notice of Intent until October 31, 2008. In addition, public scoping
meetings will be held in Wellfleet beginning in August 2008. Dates and
times will be advertised in local newspapers, the park Web site (http://
www.nps.gov/caco), the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment
Web site (http://parkplanning.nps.gov) or contact Carrie Phillips, Cape
Cod NS, at the address shown below.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by mail or hand delivery
to Superintendent, Cape Cod National Seashore, 99 Marconi Site Road,
Wellfleet, MA 02667. Comments may be submitted electronically at http://
parkplanning.nps.gov, or by e-mail to CACO_Herring_River@nps.gov.
Comments may also be provided at the public scoping meetings which will
be held at the Wellfleet Senior Center (Council on Aging), 715 Old
Kings Highway, Wellfleet, Massachusetts.
    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carrie Phillips, Cape Cod National
Seashore, 99 Marconi Site Road, Wellfleet, MA 02667, 508-349-3785; e-
mail: CACO_Herring_River@nps.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Herring River estuary comprised over
half of the tidal marshes of Wellfleet Harbor prior to diking in 1909,
provided 1100 acres of feeding, spawning and nursery habitat to
thousands of species of resident and migratory marine and estuarine
animals, and exported foods that promoted the high productivity of
receiving waters throughout Wellfleet Bay. In particular, the river's
herring and eel runs and shellfish beds were an economic and social
focus of the maritime community. Thus the 1909 diking was
controversial, and is increasingly so in light of the high ecological
and social values of natural salt marshes identified over the past few
decades. Since 1961, 80 percent of this estuary has been incorporated
within the boundaries of Cape Cod National Seashore, a unit of the
National Park Service responsible for preserving and restoring native
ecosystems.
    Nearly 30 years of ecological research by National Park Service and
cooperating scientists into the effects of

[[Page 49476]]

the 1909 diking of the Herring River estuary have documented chronic
and severe water-quality problems and frequent fish kills. In response,
the Town of Wellfleet in August 2005 appointed a Herring River
Technical Committee, representing the Towns of Wellfleet and Truro,
Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management, Cape Cod National Seashore, and
other federal, state and regional resource-management agencies, to
develop a Conceptual Restoration Plan. The Conceptual Restoration Plan
was completed in October 2007 and accepted by the towns and the
Seashore shortly thereafter under an agreement that further established
a new Herring River Restoration Committee tasked with guiding the
project through both federal NEPA and state MEPA review and developing
a detailed restoration plan.
    Through an extensive preliminary scoping process conducted during
the development of the Conceptual Restoration Plan, the Herring River
Technical Committee identified these issues: Restoration of the
estuary's functions through reconnection to the marine environment,
improvement of surface-water quality, protection of shellfish beds,
protection of potable groundwater quality, protection of adjacent
private properties and public roadways, nuisance mosquito breeding, and
exotic plants.
    In addition to the no action alternative, alternatives that could
be considered in the EIS/EIR include full tidal restoration and a
phased and incremental process of tidal restoration, monitoring and
analysis of system response, public outreach and adaptive management.

    Dated: August 12, 2008.
Dennis R. Reidenbach,
Regional Director, Northeast Region, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. E8-19436 Filed 8-20-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-WU-P

 
 

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