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Rice Lake and Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs); Aitkin, Pine, and Mille Lacs Counties, MN

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[Federal Register: January 25, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 17)]
[Notices]
[Page 4616-4617]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25ja08-107]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service

Rice Lake and Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs);
Aitkin, Pine, and Mille Lacs Counties, MN

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; final comprehensive conservation plan
and finding of no significant impact for environmental assessment.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of our final Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and
finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for Rice Lake and Mille Lacs
NWRs, Minnesota. In this final CCP, we describe how we will manage
these refuges for the next 15 years.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Final CCP and FONSI are available on compact
disk or hard copy. You may obtain a copy by writing to: U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Division of Conservation Planning, Bishop Henry
Whipple Federal Building, 1 Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, MN 55111 or
you may access and download a copy via the planning Web site at 
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/planning/RiceLake.

[[Page 4617]]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Walt Ford, (218) 768-2402.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    With this notice, we complete the CCP process for Rice Lake and
Mille Lacs NWRs that began with the Federal Register notice 70 FR 5693
(February 3, 2005). For more about the process, see that notice. We
released the draft CCP and environmental assessment (EA) to the public,
announcing and requesting comments in a notice of availability in the
Federal Register (72 FR 34711; June 25, 2007).
    Rice Lake and Mille Lacs NWRs are located in east-central
Minnesota. Both refuges are administered by the staff at Rice Lake NWR.
Rice Lake NWR is a mosaic of lakes, marshes, forests, and grasslands
that provide a variety of habitat for migrant and resident wildlife.
The Refuge is especially noted for its fall concentrations of Ring-
necked Ducks, which often number over 150,000 birds. The Refuge also
includes pre-historic and historic cultural resources of recognized
importance. Mille Lacs NWR is the smallest refuge in the National
Wildlife Refuge System. The 0.57-acre Refuge consists of two islands in
Mille Lacs Lake. One island is managed as a nesting colony for the
State-listed threatened Common Tern. The other island is used by other
colonial nesting species. The CCP will guide us in managing and
administering Rice Lake and Mille Lacs Refuges for the 15 years
following publication of the final CCP. Alternative B, as we described
in the environmental assessment, is the foundation for the CCP.

Background

The CCP Process

    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. 668dd-668ee et seq.), requires the Service to develop a CCP
for each National Wildlife Refuge. The purpose in 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
management, conservation, legal mandates, and Service policies. In
addition to outlining broad management direction for conserving
wildlife and their habitats, the CCP identifies wildlife-dependent
recreational opportunities available to the public, including
opportunities for hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and
photography, and environmental education and interpretation. We will
review and update these CCPs at least every 15 years in accordance with
the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as
amended by the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997,
and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321-4370d).

CCP Alternatives

    Our draft CCP and NEPA document (72 FR 34711; June 25, 2007)
addressed several priority issues raised by us and others. To address
these priority issues, we developed and evaluated 2 alternatives during
the planning process.

Alternative A, Current Management

    Under Alternative A, Current Management, the 170 acres of grassland
on the auto tour route would be maintained; stable water levels in Rice
Lake would be maintained throughout the growing season and at
sufficient level to allow rice harvest; the 1,400 acre area with the
pending Wilderness recommendation would be managed as de facto
wilderness; Native American ceremonies would be held under special use
permit and wild rice harvest coordinated with a local Native American
committee; cultural resources would not be interpreted on-site; demand
for interpretation and environmental education would be responded to as
staff and time permitted; the erosion of Hennepin Island would
continue; and the 2005 landcover at the Sandstone Unit would be
maintained while allowing for forest succession.

Alternative B, Preferred Alternative

    Under Alternative B, Preferred Alternative, 85 acres would be
maintained as grassland on the auto tour route to facilitate wildlife
observation; water levels would be allowed to fluctuate in Rice Lake to
more closely approximate a natural system; the 1,400 acre Wilderness
recommendation would be withdrawn to allow for more active management;
Native American ceremonies would be held under special use permit and
wild rice harvest would be coordinated with a local Native American
committee; additional interpretation of cultural resources would be
developed in cooperation with the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe; demand for
interpretation and environmental education would be responded to with
additional interpretive opportunities and educational programs with the
addition of a park ranger position; the erosion of Hennepin Island
would be reversed through rebuilding and protection with a constructed
reef; and the 2005 landcover at the Sandstone Unit would be maintained
while allowing for forest succession.

Comments

    We solicited comments on the draft CCP and environmental assessment
for Rice Lake and Mille Lacs NWRs from June 25, 2007 to July 30, 2007.
We held an open house at the refuge headquarters on July 10, 2007, to
receive comments. We received approximately 15 written comments during
the 35 day comment period. We responded to all substantive comments in
an appendix to the CCP.

Our Preferred Alternative

    After considering the comments we received, we have chosen
Alternative B as our preferred alternative. Management of the Refuges
for the next 15 years will focus on: (1) Improving the long-term
sustainability of wild rice in Rice Lake; (2) reestablishing the white
pine super-canopy in Refuge forests; and (3) strengthening programs in
wildlife-dependent recreation and cultural resources protection.

    Dated: September 12, 2007.
David R. Downes,
Acting Regional Director, Region 3, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
[FR Doc. E8-1276 Filed 1-24-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P

 
 

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