J. 



& 



Center for Marine Conservation 



April 9. 1991 



Joseph A. Uravitch, Chief 



Washington, D.C 20235 



Conunen. on D.a. Hn-onn,en:^ I.pa« ^^^^Z^^'^^^^^^l^^lT^^^ 

 |?o'S'^LT8:^99rp'agt/2S^3iaSosed S.eOwagen Ban. Na.onal 



58, 



Dear Mr. Uravitch: 



/r\Ar\ a national non-profit ciuzens 



The Center for Marine Consetvanon (CMc; ^^^^^^_ welcomes th^ 



organization dedicated to conserving manne ^^-=' ^^^^^^j.uons on the DEIS/MP 



opportunity to offer the f°"°-"g/°!^"3fr^ne Sanctuary (SBNMS). TTus letter 



for the proposed Stellwagen Bank Nat>on=a Manne ^^y ^^,^ ^,^^, 13 



expands upon our oral tesumony P^""'f? ^^'j, jg ?, Washingtoiv DC. Your careful „„,^t„„ 



1991 in D^bury, Massachusetts ^^'^ °" j^'f 'Vsion in the administrative record is CENTER FOR MARINE CONSERVATION 



consideration of these comments and their mclusio 



appreciated. ^ Uo response necessary. 



- ^ ,ou .ow. CMC has ^ n year .usj of aoi^^^^voWement o^issues 



concerning marine protected are^ ^^^,^f J^P^^^mental in organizing the 



Sanctuary Prograrn (NMSP). 7^=^"'" * coordinate its activities. As strong 



Stellwagen Bank Coabuon and ,'^°;"""'sVVe Xleheartedly support the Stellwagen 



believers in and proponents of the NMSP^e w^o^ considerable work that you and 



Bank National Marine Sanctuary. We contend tne ^^ ^^ ^^ 



your staff have devoted to ^^is effort thus ^ar^ m ^^ p^gram in his 



President Bushs stated support of ^= X°y^,^uonal Conference on Underv^ater 



Janua.7 31, 1991 letter to a«endan^/' %™;™^°,, sanctuaries and other 



Educadon. His letter stated that, m ^^J'^'^^ safegi^arding the marine 



protected areas offer one of the b"t ■ne'hod^, 3^ Jt = ^^^^ comments to 



Environment.- With thrs .5^'^'""' '" ^^c^;,*^ prmecion that this area deserves. 



ensure that sanctuary designation does secure tne p 



While we feel that it, general ^ou have Put forth a respor^^^^D^^^^^^^^^ 

 are key areas " *= sanctuarys boj^^^l^ ^^.^^^d that your proposal fails to 

 Disposal Site (MBDS) to "^"i *'"' ^° " *''^e long-tenn. comprehensive resource 



pnimdaries 



The national significance and --''^^J^'^^.Sr^T.'eSor^^^^^^^^^ 

 demands that it be afforded ^f V''°Hfr^ dteSve' #3 ^Se boundary for the 

 strongly urges NOAA to ad°P'. bound^ alternanve #^ a^ ^^ ^^^ 



SteUwagen Bank Nfonal Manne Sand^^^ bound^altemative. Indeed, of aU the 

 and manageability favor the adoption of J^ boun^ ^, ^^^^ ^^ opportumty to 

 Sr ir^ proS'^-d Jo'i'preit management of the SteUwagen Bank 

 system emphasized in your plan. 



I, , it,, renter for Marine Conservation 



Sanctuary. 2 See generic response B.l. 



K^t, we dispute *e app^ent^-cli^io^^^^^^^^^^ ^th^ ^^E^S/MP ^at e ^ 



preferred boundary alteniat.ve (alternauve #2) m^ ^^ ^^^ ^ j^g 



focal habitats f°^,»"^,^7 fi/h/^.^SmHi e ™38, 63. and 57). the Stellwagen 



to infonnation addressed m the ^EIS/MK ^i.e^P » Stellwagen Bank 



Bank cotiference proceedings (i.e. P^S". ^^ .^j.^^^^se resources move in and out of 



technical report document ^-'J^gl'^^^.'S'^,"^ from year to year. Although 



these boundaries seasonably and ""''" f "= "^ boundaries that encompass all „ ^k-7 



