[Federal Register: September 19, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 181)]
[Notices]
[Page 54836-54837]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19se06-56]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Chesapeake Marshlands National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Including
Blackwater, Martin and Susquehanna National Wildlife Refuges)
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability: Final comprehensive conservation plan
and finding of no significant impact.
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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces that the
final Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) is available for Chesapeake
Marshlands National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Complex (including
Blackwater, Martin and Susquehanna NWRs). This CCP is required pursuant
to the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as
amended by the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997
(16 U.S.C. 668 dd et seq.), and the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969. The CCP describes how the Service intends to manage the
complex over the next 15 years.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the CCP are available on compact diskette or in
hard copy, and may be obtained by writing Bill Perry, Refuge Planner,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, MA
01035, or by electronic mail at northeastplanning@fws.gov. These
documents may also be accessed at the Web address http://library.fws.gov/ccps.htm
.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill Perry, Refuge Planner at the
above address, 413-253-8371, or electronic mail at Bill_Perry@fws.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of developing a CCP is to
provide refuge managers with a 15-year strategy for achieving refuge
purposes and contributing toward the mission of the National Wildlife
Refuge System, consistent with sound principles of fish and wildlife
science, legal mandates, and Service policies. In addition to outlining
broad management direction on conserving wildlife and habitats, a CCP
identifies wildlife-dependent recreational opportunities available to
the public, including opportunities for hunting, fishing, wildlife
observation and photography, and environmental
[[Page 54837]]
education and interpretation. The CCP will be reviewed and updated at
least every 15 years.
Established in 1933, Blackwater NWR is the oldest and largest in
the complex. It encompasses 23,686 acres and consists of extensive
marshes, moist-soil impoundments, and croplands that form a mosaic of
habitats important to migrating and wintering waterfowl. The forests of
Blackwater NWR provide unique and important habitats for a variety of
migratory songbirds, the bald eagle, and the largest remaining
population of the Federal-listed endangered Delmarva fox squirrel.
Martin NWR was established in 1954. It consists of 4,569 acres and is
closed to the public. Tidal marsh, coves and creeks and vegetated
ridges form a habitat complex important to thousands of migratory
waterfowl and nesting songbirds. Susquehanna NWR was established in
1942 and consists of a 4-acre island with scattered trees mixed in with
grass and shrubs. Eastern Neck NWR is a 2,286-acre refuge that was
established in 1962. This refuge is not included in this CCP, and will
undergo the planning process for a CCP at a later date.
Our final CCP includes management direction for each of the three
refuges, and includes habitat management and public use goals and
objectives based on the vision for the refuge that has been developed
as a part of the CCP process. Our adopted management direction
represents adaptive management based on the results of scientific
survey and monitoring programs. It focuses on restoring, enhancing, and
maintaining ecological processes and natural biological communities and
biodiversity. It emphasizes managing the complex for the benefit of all
migratory bird species, maintaining and recovering endangered or
threatened species, restoring submerged aquatic vegetation and
wetlands, reducing or eliminating invasive plant and animal species,
and adding research and inventories, including those for butterflies,
reptiles, amphibians and fish.
The final CCP includes the decision to expand the boundary of
Blackwater NWR, primarily through partnerships and easements, in two
areas: 15,300 acres surrounding the refuge, and 16,000 acres east of
the refuge along the Nanticoke River. All of that acreage contains low-
lying forest and marsh habitats.
Finally, the CCP improves our ability to provide opportunities for
compatible, wildlife-dependent recreation. This includes a new,
accessible fishing pier and parking area at Key Wallace Bridge, new
hiking and canoe trails, a canoe access ramp and wetland observation
deck, rebuilding the wildlife observation tower, remodeling and
expanding the visitor center, updating the exhibits at the center,
enhancing signage, providing new hunting opportunities for turkey,
resident Canada geese, and waterfowl, and providing many more outreach
and environmental education programs.
The Service solicited comments on the draft CCP/EA for Chesapeake
Marshlands NWR Complex from May 3 through July 15, 2005. We developed a
list of substantive comments that required responses. Editorial
suggestions and notes of concurrence with, or opposition to, certain
proposals were noted and included in the decision making process, but
did not receive formal responses. The final CCP includes responses to
all substantive comments. Comments are considered substantive if they:
Question, with reasonable basis, the accuracy of the
information in the document,
Question, with reasonable basis, the adequacy of the
environmental analysis,
Present reasonable alternatives other than those presented
in the EA,
Cause changes or revisions in the CCP,
Provide new or additional information relevant to the
analysis.
Based upon the comments we received, we chose management
alternative B to develop into the final CCP, with the following
modifications:
Land Protection: We received a mixed response to the
proposed boundary expansion. While there was a degree of support, a
number of comments expressed concern about the scope of the Land
Protection Plan (LPP) and proposed boundary expansion. Some comments
indicated a concern about the potential for condemnation of land by the
Service.
We revised the LPP to include protection measures other than fee-
title acquisition for the Nanticoke Division of Blackwater NWR. The use
of easements and management agreements, for example, is authorized for
this division. Fee-title acquisition is authorized only for the
boundary expansion contiguous to the existing Blackwater NWR.
Marshbird Habitat Improvement: We received comments that
the CCP should recognize the distinctness and conservation value of the
brackish marsh bird community and plan for its long term management.
We have added a new objective to Goal 1 to capture the significance
of the brackish marsh bird community and future management strategies,
including the need to adaptively manage fire in marsh ecosystems.
Dated: August 7, 2006.
Richard O. Bennett,
Acting Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hadley,
Massachusetts.
[FR Doc. E6-15507 Filed 9-18-06; 8:45 am]
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