Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan 2008-2013
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SSaappeelloo IIssllaanndd NNaattiioonnaall EEssttuuaarriinnee RReesseeaarrcchh RReesseerrvvee MMaannaaggeemmeenntt PPllaann 22000088--22001133 Island National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan 2008-2013 Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve Estuarine Research Reserve P.O. Box 15 Sapelo Island, GA 31327 Sapelonerr.org and nerrs.noaa.gov ii Table of Contents List of Acronyms and Abbreviations vii Foreword ix Acknowledgements x Executive Summary xi INTRODUCTION xv PART ONE: BACKGROUND 1. THE NATIONAL ESTUARINE RESEARCH RESERVE SYSTEM 02 2. SAPELO ISLAND RESERVE: SETTING 15 • Population and Access 16 • Georgia's Coastline 16 • Economy of Coastal Georgia 17 • Physical Aspects 18 • Habitat Types 24 • History, Human Habitation and Land Use 35 • Economic Activities 46 • Archaeology 50 • Contemporary Uses 55 o Residential 56 o Research: UGA Marine Institute 56 o Georgia Department of Natural Resources 58 o Recreation 58 o Commercial activities 60 PART TWO: MISSION AND GOALS OF THE SAPELO ISLAND NERR 3. SAPELO ISLAND NERR: MISSION AND GOALS 63 • SINERR Mission 64 • SINERR Vision 64 • SINERR Specific Goals and Objectives 64 4. ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK AND PLAN 69 • State law, codes and regulations 71 • State management of Sapelo Island and the Reserve 72 • SINERR staff 73 • Administrative Goals and Strategies 80 • State (DNR) Island Management Strategies 81 iii 5. FACILITIES 83 6. BOUNDARIES and ACQUISITION 98 7. PUBLIC ACCESS 104 8. RESEARCH & MONITORING 113 • NERR Systemwide Research Goals 114 • SINERR and the Systemwide Monitoring Program (SWMP) 117 • SWMP Implementation 121 • Research Goal, Objectives and Strategies 127 • SINERR Research Program Currents 138 • Featured initiative: Dean Creek Hydrological Restoration Project 146 9. STEWARDSHIP: Managing the Ecosystem 159 • General Context for Management 160 • General Policies and Authorities 160 • Restoration 161 • Stewardship, Goal and Objectives and Strategies 163 10. EDUCATION, OUTREACH AND INTERPRETATION 167 • NERR Education Goal 169 • SINERR Education and Interpretation Plan 170 • SINERR Education, Goal, Objectives and Strategies 171 • Education and Outreach Strategies: Summary 175 • Current Education On/ Off Site Activities 182 11. COASTAL TRAINING PROGRAM 185 • Overview of the SINERR Coastal Training Program 186 • SINERR CTP, Goals, Objectives and Strategies 188 12. VOLUNTEER PROGRAM 192 13. REFERENCES 198 iv APPENDICES A. Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve: Accomplishments, 2000-2007 B. Establishment of the NERR System by the Coastal Zone Management Act C. National Estuarine Research Reserve System Final (Amended) Regulations D. Memorandum of Agreement Between the NOAA And the DNR of the State of Georgia Detailing the State-Federal Roles in the Management of the SINERR E. Amendments to Lease and Operating Agreements Between DNR and Board of Regents F. Memorandum of Agreement Between SINERR and UGA Marine Institute for Management and Use of the Barrier Island Research and Learning Facility on Sapelo Island G. Memorandum of Agreement Between SINERR and UGA Marine Institute for Collective Management and Mapping of Scientific Research, Monitoring and Management Activities on Sapelo Island v Maps, Photos, Figures & Tables Figure 1. National Estuarine Research Reserve System and Biogeographic Zones. Figure 2. Barrier islands of Georgia. Figure 3. Barrier island cross section. Figure 4. Barrier island formation. Figure 5. Sapelo Island soil map. Figure 6. Watershed for SINERR. Figure 7. General map of Sapelo Island: points of interest and Roads. Figure 8. United States Coast & Geodetic Survey, Figure 9. Doboy and Altamaha Sounds, 1871 (rev. 1897). and Acquisition for Sapelo Figure 10. Island Forest resources map of SINERR and Sapelo Island. Figure 11. Facilities Inside the SINERR Boundary. Figure 12. Sketch of the BIRL Center. Figure 13. Sapelo Island with SINERR boundaries (core/ buffer). Figure 14. Map of continuous water and weather quality stations under SWMP. Figure 15. Site map of the Dean Creek study with SETs and vegetation mapping study. Figure 16. Site map of the GA33 Atmospheric Deposition Station. Figure 17. Dean Creek Sediment Elevation Tables. Figure 18. GIS mapping of McIntosh County near water septic system. Figure 19. King Savannah LLP habitat from information taken by Reserve staff and Lipscomb University, Summer 2004. Figure 20. Longleaf habitat study: Forest diversity, LLP distribution by age class (years) in King Savannah. Figure 21. Longleaf habitat study: Forest diversity, LLP mean tree size. Figure 22. TNC/SINERR Invasive Species pamphlet. Figure 23. Perna virdis, green mussel UGA/SINERR flyer. Figure 24. Range map of Perna virdis, Karen Payne, UGA. Figure 25. Green porcelain crab habitat preferences. Figure 26. Oyster recruitment site location. Figure 27. Oyster recruitment treatment photograph. Figure 28. Oyster growth and survival. Figure 29. Herbicidal efficacy for Sapium sebiferum control. Table 1. Research and monitoring partner programs of the Reserve. Table 2. List of researchers and project specialties conducted within the Dean Creek study area. vi Acronyms and Abbreviations BMP Best Management Practice CDMO Central Data Management Office CFR Code of Federal Regulations CICEET Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology CMP Comprehensive Management Plan (Sapelo Island) CRD Coastal Resources Division (of Georgia DNR) CTP Coastal Training Program CZMA Coastal Zone Management Act (of 1972, and subsequently amended) CZMP Coastal Zone Management Program DNR Department of Natural Resources EPA Environmental Protection Agency EPD Environmental Protection Division (of Georgia DNR) ERD Estuarine Reserves Division FOS Friends of Sapelo GCE Georgia Coastal Ecosystems GCEC Georgia Coastal Education Group GIS Geographic Information System GOES Geostationary Satellite Server GRF Graduate Research Fellow GRNMS Grays Reef National Marine Sanctuary IOOS Integrated Oceanographic Observing Systems LTER Long Term Ecological Research MAREX Marine Extension Service (of University of Georgia) MOA Memorandum of Agreement MOU Memorandum of Understanding NADP National Atmospheric Deposition Program NERR National Estuarine Research Reserve NERRS National Estuarine Research Reserve System NMFS National Marine Fisheries Service NMS National Marine Sanctuary NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOS National Ocean Service NPS Non-Point Source Pollution OCGA Official Code of Georgia Annotated OCRM Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, Office of PAGIS Protected Area Geographic Information System PRHS Parks, Recreation and Historic Sites Division (of Georgia DNR) RMP Revised Management Plan SINERR Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve SWMP System-Wide Monitoring Program TMDL Total Maximum Daily Load TNC The Nature Conservancy UGA University of Georgia UGAMI University of Georgia Marine Institute USC United States Code USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture USFWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service USGS U.S. Geological Survey WMA Wildlife Management Area WRD Wildlife Resources Division (of Georgia DNR) vii viii Foreword “As children of the past and parents of the future, we should pause to consider our heritage and what our legacies may be,” a coastal Georgia historian wrote in 1881. Those words, articulated so many years ago, are equally appropriate today, and to them we might also add: Where do we go from here? Part of the answer, as we look introspectively, lies in the document before you. On December 22, 1976, the U.S. Department of Commerce, under authority of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, designated the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Sanctuary, now Research Reserve, as the second such site within a new National Estuarine Sanctuary System. As a federal-state partnership program, the Reserve is administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. Located on the western perimeter of Sapelo, the Reserve is dedicated to research, education, stewardship, and the efficient management of coastal resources in Georgia. The national system (NERRS) includes 27 reserves in 22 coastal states and territories representing areas that are unique in their specific ecology, geology and biology. Sapelo NERR is an integral part of that System. This Management Plan comprehensively describes the resources, management, and programs of the SINERR. It includes general and specific policies about the SINERR’s resources and utilization of those resources that guide management of the Reserve. The plan also tells the public what the SINERR is and how Georgia DNR will manage it. The Plan has undergone review by the Reserve’s Advisory Committee, the Georgia DNR, and NOAA’s Estuarine Reserves Division. In addition, and consistent with federal regulations, there has been a period of public review of the document. The final version of the Plan incorporates changes made as a result of comments received from individuals and organizations during the review period. Further public comment on this plan and the management and operations of the SINERR is welcome at any time. It is most fitting and appropriate that much of the revision of the Management Plan was conducted amid the Reserve’s 30th anniversary observance in 2006 and 2007. A great deal was achieved programmatically in the Reserve’s first 30 years. Those achievements will be reviewed and documented in the following pages. In properly reflecting the