Comprehensive Management Plan
[Federal Register: October 1, 1997 (Volume 62, Number 190)]
[Notices]
[Page 51482-51483]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01oc97-72]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Comprehensive Management Plan
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare comprehensive management plans and
associated environmental documents.
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SUMMARY: This notice advises the pubic that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (Service) intends to gather information necessary to prepare
comprehensive management plans (CMPs) and environmental assessments for
units within Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio.
Readers should note that pending legislation may change the names of
CMPs to comprehensive conservation plans. The CMPs will be prepared for
the Illinois River Refuges and Mark Twain, DeSoto, Shiawassee,
Minnesota Valley, Squaw Creek, and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuges and
the Wetland Management Districts in Minnesota. The Service is
furnishing this notice in compliance with Service CMP policy and the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and implementing regulations:
(1) To advise other agencies and the public of our intentions, and
(2) To obtain suggestions and information one the scope of issues
to include in the environmental document.
DATES: Inquire at the address below for due dates for comments
regarding specific projects.
ADDRESSES: Address comments and requests for more information or to be
put on a mailing list to: Chief, Branch of Ascertainment and Planning,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building,
1 Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, Minnesota 55111, (612) 725-3306, E-
mail: R3PLANNING@fws.gov
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Service will solicit information from
the public via open houses and written comments. Special mailings,
newspaper articles, and radio announcements in the areas near each unit
will inform people of the time and place of open houses to be held in
1997 and 1998 related to the CMP and NEPA documentation.
[[Page 51483]]
It is Service policy to have all lands within the National Wildlife
Refuge System managed in accordance with an approved CMP. The CMP
guides management decisions and identifies goals, objectives, and
strategies for achieving unit purposes. Public input into this planning
process is encouraged. The CMPs will provide other agencies and the
public with a clear understanding of the desired conditions of each of
its units and how the Service will implement management strategies.
The Illinois River National Wildlife and Fish Refuges is a complex
of four areas in the Illinois River floodplain. The names of the four
areas, the year they were established, and their acreage are:
Chautauqua Refuge (1936) 4,658; Meredosia Refuge (1973) 3,397; Emiquon
Refuge, which is authorized for 11,312 acres, (1993) 1,120; and the
Cameron/Billsbach Unit (1958) 1,709. Each of the areas consists of
backwater lakes, bottomland forests, floodplain wetland, and a small
amount of upland forest.
The Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Complex encompasses
over 350 miles of the Mississippi River bottoms between Muscatine,
Iowa, and Gorham, Illinois. As part of an area of 100,000 acres
cooperatively managed by the States of Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri,
and the Corps of Engineers, the Service directly manages 31,500 acres.
The Refuge was established in 1958 and includes the Wapello, Iowa;
Annada, Missouri; and Brussels, Illinois Districts; and the Clarence
Cannon NWR in Missouri. The Refuge is part of the internationally
significant migratory bird corridor along the Mississippi River.
DeSoto NWR is located in southwestern Iowa, approximately 30 miles
north of Omaha, Nebraska. Established in 1958, the Refuge includes
3,499 acres in Iowa and 4,324 acres in Nebraska. Located in the
Missouri River Valley, the Refuge is a fall migration stop for hundreds
of thousands of snow geese. In addition, the Refuge houses a salvaged
1860's steamboat and its cargo.
Shiawassee NWR consists of 9,102 acres located near Saginaw,
Michigan. The Refuge was established in 1953 and has an approved plan
to expand by 7,500 acres. The Refuge is part of the ``Shiawassee
Flats'' in the Saginaw Bay watershed, historically one of the largest
and most productive wetland ecosystems in Michigan.
Minnesota Valley NWR, which was established in 1976, consists of
9,429 acres within the metropolitan area of Minneapolis and St. Paul,
Minnesota. The Refuge, which has an authorized acreage of 14,000, is a
greenbelt providing wildlife habitat along 34 miles of the Minnesota
River. The Refuge also provides environmental education and compatible
outdoor recreation opportunities.
Squaw Creek NWR, which was established in 1935, includes 7,178
acres of the Missouri River floodplain. Located northwest of St.
Joseph, Missouri, the Refuge is a major wintering area for bald eagles
and snow geese. Wetlands and loess bluff hills with remnants of native
prairie exist within the Refuge.
Ottawa NWR (5,794 acres) and its satellite units, Cedar Point
National Wildlife Refuge (2,445 acres) and West Sister Island National
Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness Area (77 acres), are situated along the
southwestern shore of Lake Erie in Lucas and Ottawa Counties, Ohio. The
major parcel of Ottawa NWR was acquired in 1961 with land acquired
under the authority of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act. Cedar Point
was accepted as a donation by the Secretary of Interior in 1964. West
Sister Island was established as a Refuge in 1938 by Presidential Order
and was designated a National Wilderness in 1975. Under a lease
agreement, Ottawa NWR also manages the Navarre Marsh, which is owned by
the Toledo Edison Power Company. The Refuge is authorized to expand by
an additional 5,000 acres.
The five Minnesota Wetland Management Districts (WMDs) exist within
the Prairie Pothole Region. In 1958, Congress amended The Duck Stamp
Act to authorize acquisition of wetlands and uplands as Waterfowl
Production Areas (WPAs). The WPAs became part of the National Wildlife
Refuge System in 1966 through the National Wildlife Refuge
Administration Act. The WMDs were created in 1962 as the acquisition of
wetlands and uplands accelerated due to a loan from Congress against
future Duck Stamp sales. The WMDs include approximately 172,000 acres.
In addition to WPAs, WMD staff manage wetland and grassland easements
that are perpetual contracts with private landowners. Current wetland
easement acreage is approximately 62,000.
The Service units need CMPs because no formal, up-to-date, long-
term management direction exists. Until the CMPs are completed,
management will be guided by official unit purposes; Management and
General Public Use of the National Wildlife Refuge System (Executive
Order 12996); Federal legislation regarding management of national
wildlife refuges and wilderness; and other legal, regulatory and policy
guidance.
Upon implementation, the CMPs will apply to Federal lands,
easements, and lands leased by the Service within the boundaries of the
units. The plans will be consistent with the Service's Ecosystem
Approach to Fish and Wildlife Conservation and include approaches to
habitat management, wildlife population management, cultural resource
identification and protection, and management of any special uses.
The environmental review of these projects will be conducted in
accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), NEPA Regulations (40
CFR 1500-1508), other appropriate Federal laws and regulations,
Executive Order 12996, and Service policies and procedures for
compliance with those regulations.
We estimate that the first draft CMPs and associated environmental
documents will be available by March 1998.
Dated: September 25, 1997.
Marvin E. Moriarty,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 97-25967 Filed 9-30-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M
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