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Notice of Intent To Prepare a Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Central Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge Complex

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

 [Federal Register: January 3, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 1)]
[Notices]
[Page 142-143]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03ja07-65]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Intent To Prepare a Comprehensive Conservation Plan and
Environmental Assessment for the Central Arkansas National Wildlife
Refuge Complex

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Fish and Wildlife
Service, Southeast Region, intends to gather information necessary to
prepare a comprehensive conservation plan and environmental assessment
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and its
implementing regulations. This plan and environmental assessment will
cover Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge, Big Lake National Wildlife
Refuge, Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, and Wapanocca National
Wildlife Refuge, the refuges that make up the Central Arkansas National
Wildlife Refuge Complex. The refuges are in Crittendon, Jackson,
Mississippi, Monroe, Prairie, White, and Woodruff Counties, Arkansas.
The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as
amended by the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997,
requires the Service to develop a comprehensive conservation plan for
each national wildlife refuge. The purpose in developing a
comprehensive conservation plan 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 management, conservation, legal
mandates, and Service policies. In addition to outlining broad
management direction on conserving wildlife and their habitats, plans
identify wildlife-dependent recreational opportunities available to the
public, including opportunities for hunting, fishing, wildlife
observation, wildlife photography, and environmental education and
interpretation.
    The purpose of this notice is to achieve the following:
    (1) Advise other agencies and the public of our intentions, and
    (2) Obtain suggestions and information on the scope of issues to
include in the environmental document.

DATES: Please provide written comments on the scope of issues to
include in the environmental document by March 5, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Address comments, questions, and requests for further
information to: Judy McClendon, Natural Resource Planner, Central
Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 26320 Highway 33 South,
Augusta, Arkansas 72006; Telephone: 870/347-2074. Comments may be faxed
to the complex at: 870/347-2908, or e-mailed to 
Judy_McClendon@fws.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public scoping meetings are planned for
early 2007 and will be announced in the local media in advance of the
meetings. Announcements will inform people of opportunities for written
input throughout the planning process. All comments received become
part of the official public record. Requests for such comments will be
handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and other
Service and Departmental policies and procedures.
    By Federal law, all lands within the National Wildlife Refuge
System will be managed in accordance with an approved comprehensive
conservation plan. Plans guide a refuge's management decisions and
identify long-term goals, objectives, and strategies for achieving the
purposes for which the refuge was established. During the planning
process many elements will be considered, including wildlife and
habitat management, public use opportunities, and cultural resource
protection. Public input during the planning process is essential. The
plan for the Central Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge Complex will
describe desired conditions for refuges within the complex and the
long-term goals, objectives, and strategies for achieving those conditions.
    The four national wildlife refuges that comprise the Central
Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge Complex were all established
primarily to provide habitat for migrating waterfowl and other birds,
for use as inviolate sanctuary or for any other management purposes for
migratory birds, for the conservation of the Nation's wetlands, to
protect and restore bottomland hardwood resources, to protect
endangered species, and to provide the public with compatible and
appropriate wildlife-dependent recreational opportunities. The refuges
are located in the bottomland hardwood habitat of the Mississippi River
Alluvial Plain and contain large tracts of bottomland hardwood forest,
unique wetlands, and habitat for wintering migratory waterfowl and
other wildlife. In early 2005, the ivory-billed woodpecker, long
thought to be extinct, was rediscovered on the Cache River National
Wildlife Refuge.

Preliminary Issues, Concerns, and Opportunities

    The following preliminary issues, concerns, and opportunities have
been identified and will be addressed in the comprehensive conservation
plan. Additional issues will be identified during public scoping.
    Habitat Management and Restoration: What actions shall the Service
take to sustain and restore priority species and habitats over the next
15 years?
    Endangered Species: How will the Cache River National Wildlife
Refuge manage its lands with the rediscovery of the ivory-billed
woodpecker?
    Public Use and Access: What type and level of appropriate and
wildlife-dependent compatible recreation opportunities should be provided?

[[Page 143]]

    Invasive Species Control: How do invasive species affect
functioning native systems, and what actions should be taken to reduce
the incidence and spread of invasive species?

    Authority: This notice is published under the authority of the
National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, Public Law 105-57.

    November 20, 2006.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. E6-22463 Filed 12-29-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P

 
 

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