Mooring Buoy and Marker Plan and EA Public Meetings

Date: July 1, 2009

Biscayne National Park is reviewing its current navigational and mooring system to determine whether moorings and navigational markers should be removed, relocated, or increased in number to protect marine resources and provide for the enjoyment of park resources such as reefs and shipwrecks. The park is considering appropriate criteria and standards for establishing future mooring sites, as well as defining desired conditions for mooring sites and navigation. The proposed plan will describe management options for a few areas in the park where boating visitors are concentrated in confined areas resulting in resource damage, visitor conflicts, and unsafe conditions, for example the sandbar at Sands Key. The plan will examine whether some high-use areas need different or additional navigational or informational markers. The park is also considering formalizing and expanding the Maritime Heritage Trail in order to facilitate access to historic shipwrecks and other submerged archeological sites, by installing mooring buoys and providing diver cards and brochures for each of these sites.

To learn more about the Plan and to provide input and comments, the public is invited to three public meetings:

Tuesday, July 7, 2009 6-8pm

Homestead location

Miami-Dade College, Homestead Campus

Rooms F222-F223, Aviation Building F

500 College Terrace

Homestead, FL 33030-6009

Wednesday, July 8, 2009  6-8pm

Miami location

Crowne Plaza Miami International Airport

950 N.W. LeJeune Road

Miami, FL 33126

Thursday, July 9, 2009 6-8pm

Key Largo location

Holiday Inn Key Largo Resort

99701 Overseas Highway

Key Largo, FL 33037

The 45 day public comment period for this Plan ends July 31, 2009. Public comments can be made in several ways:

-attend a public meeting to express your comment in person;

-mail comments on the pre-addressed comment form obtained at the public meetings or send written comments in any format to Biscayne National Park, Attn: Mooring Buoy EA 9700 SW 328th Street, Homestead, Florida 33033;

-via the Internet at https://parkplanning.nps.gov 

-hand deliver comments to Biscayne National Park at 9700 SW 328th Street in Homestead, Florida.