[Federal Register: July 23, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 142)]
[Notices]
[Page 42822-42824]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23jy08-66]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R4-R-2008-N0132; 40136-1265-0000-S3]
Red River National Wildlife Refuge, Caddo, Bossier, DeSoto,
Natchitoches, and Red River Parishes, LA
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: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of our final comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and
finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for Red River National
Wildlife Refuge (NWR). In the final CCP, we describe how we will manage
this refuge for the next 15 years.
ADDRESSES: A copy of the CCP may be obtained by writing to: Red River
NWR, 11372 Highway 143, Farmerville, LA 71241. The plan may also be
accessed and downloaded from the Service's Web site: http://
southeast.fws.gov/planning.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. George Chandler, Refuge Manager,
North Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge Complex; Telephone: 318/726-
4222; fax: 318/726-4667; e-mail: george_chandler@fws.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
With this notice, we finalize the CCP process for Red River NWR. We
started this process through a notice in the
[[Page 42823]]
Federal Register on March 13, 2006 (71 FR 12710). For more about the
process, see that notice.
On October 13, 2000, House Resolution 4318, the Red River National
Wildlife Refuge Act, was signed into law (Pub. L. 106-300). This
legislation authorized the establishment of the Red River NWR to
provide for the restoration and conservation of fish and wildlife
habitats in the Red River Valley ecosystem in northwest Louisiana. Red
River NWR is a unit of the North Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge
Complex, which also includes D'Arbonne, Upper Ouachita, Black Bayou
Lake, and Handy Brake Refuges, as well as the Louisiana Wetlands
Management District. Each refuge has its own unique issues, requiring
separate planning efforts and public involvement.
The Red River NWR, stretching 120 miles along the Red River Valley
from Colfax, Louisiana, near its southern boundary to the Arkansas
state line, will play an important role regionally in fulfilling the
goals of the National Wildlife Refuge System. According to legislation,
the refuge shall consist of up to 50,000 acres from the Headquarters
Unit and four focus units within a selection area covering 220,000
acres. Currently, the Service has acquired 9,788 acres and has 40,212
acres remaining to purchase. The lands within the five units (e.g.,
Headquarters, Wardview, Spanish Lake Lowlands, Bayou Pierre, and Lower
Cane River focus areas) will be acquired through a combination of fee
title purchases from willing sellers and through conservation
easements, leases, and/or cooperative agreements from willing
landowners. Currently, fee title lands have been purchased within
portions of all the focus units except Wardview. Red River NWR's
proximity to a major metropolitan center will afford the public the
ability to participate in educational opportunities that promote
wildlife stewardship.
Currently, the five units of the refuge include 3,742 acres of
reforested bottomland hardwood forest; 317 acres of bottomland forest;
261 acres of riparian habitat; 194 acres of cypress swamp; 600 acres of
moist soils; 1,125 acres of agricultural fields; 124 acres in a pecan
orchard; 64 acres dominated by groundsel-tree (Baccharis halimifolia);
217 acres of honey locust; and 153 acres of old field that was grazed
and is currently invaded by wild plum and invasive species. In
addition, about 443 acres of the refuge consist of oxbow lakes, Red
River tributaries, borrow pits, and irrigation ditches. Currently,
minimal public use occurs on the refuge besides hunting, fishing, and
some wildlife observation.
We announce our decision and the availability of the final CCP and
FONSI for Red River NWR in accordance with the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) (40 CFR 1506.6(b)) requirements. We completed a
thorough analysis of impacts on the human environment, which we
included in the draft comprehensive conservation plan and environmental
assessment (Draft CCP/EA).
The CCP will guide us in managing and administering Red River NWR
for the next 15 years. Alternative C, as we described in the final CCP,
is the foundation for the CCP.
The compatibility determinations for (1) wildlife observation and
photography; (2) environmental education and interpretation; (3) big
game hunting; (4) small game hunting; (5) migratory bird hunting; (6)
fishing; (7) hiking, jogging, and walking; (8) boating; (9) all-terrain
vehicles; (10) berry/fruit picking; (11) bicycling; and (12)
cooperative farming are also available within the final CCP.
Background
The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (16
U.S.C. 668dd-668ee) (Improvement Act), which amended the National
Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, requires us to
develop a CCP for each national wildlife refuge. The purpose for
developing a CCP is to provide refuge managers with a 15-year plan 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 our
policies. In addition to outlining broad management direction on
conserving wildlife and their habitats, CCPs identify wildlife-
dependent recreational opportunities available to the public, including
opportunities for hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, wildlife
photography, and environmental education and interpretation. We will
review and update the CCP at least every 15 years in accordance with
the Improvement Act.
Comments
Approximately 150 copies of the Draft CCP/EA were made available
for a 30-day public review period as announced in the Federal Register
on April 14, 2008 (73 FR 20059). Five written comments were received
from local citizens and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries.
Selected Alternative
After considering the comments we received, we have selected
Alternative C for implementation. The primary focus under Alternative C
will be to optimize the biological and visitor use programs. Land
acquisition, reforestation, and resource protection at Red River NWR
will be intensified from the level now maintained under the No Action
Alternative. The refuge will expand the approved acquisition boundary
to incorporate 1,413 acres in the Spanish Lake Lowlands Unit; 87 acres
in the Headquarters Unit; and 1,938 acres in the Lower Cane Unit.
Alternative C will provide a full-time law enforcement officer, an
equipment operator, a maintenance worker, a wildlife biologist, an
assistant manager, an administrative assistant, and an outdoor
recreational specialist. Public use and environmental education will
increase. Within three years of the date of the CCP, the refuge will
develop a Visitor Services' Plan to be used in expanding public use
facilities and opportunities. This step-down management plan will
provide overall, long-term guidance and direction in developing and
running a larger public use program. Federal funds are now available to
construct a refuge headquarters/visitor center at the Headquarters
Unit. The new visitor center will include a small auditorium for use in
talks, meetings, films, videos, and other audiovisual presentations.
Alternative C will also increase opportunities for visitors by adding
facilities such as photo blinds, observation sites, and trails.
Within five years of the date of the CCP, we will prepare a Fishing
Plan that will outline and expand permissible fishing opportunities
within the refuge. The refuge will also construct a fishing pier at the
Headquarters Unit. Staff will investigate opportunities for expanding
hunting possibilities.
Alternative C is considered to be the most effective for meeting
the purposes of the refuge by conserving, restoring, and managing the
refuge's habitats and wildlife, while optimizing wildlife-dependent
public uses. Alternative C will best achieve national, ecosystem, and
refuge-specific goals and objectives and it positively addresses
significant issues and concerns expressed by the public.
Authority: This notice is published under the authority of the
National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, Public Law
105-57.
[[Page 42824]]
Dated: May 27, 2008.
Jon Andrew,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. E8-16822 Filed 7-22-08; 8:45 am]
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