[Federal Register: February 20, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 33)]
[Notices]
[Page 7913-7914]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20fe09-81]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R4-R-2008-N0319; 40136-1265-0000-S3]
Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge, St. Tammany and Washington
Parishes, LA, and Pearl River County, MS
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a comprehensive conservation plan
and environmental assessment; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), intend to
prepare a comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and associated National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents for Bogue Chitto National
Wildlife Refuge (NWR). We provide this notice in compliance with our
CCP policy to advise other agencies, tribes, and the public of our
intentions, and to obtain suggestions and information on the scope of
issues to consider in the planning process.
DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive your written comments
by April 6, 2009. We will hold a public meeting during the scoping
phase of the planning process; we will announce the meeting date, time,
and place in local media.
ADDRESSES: Send comments, questions, and requests for information to:
Tina Chouinard, Natural Resource Planner, Hatchie National Wildlife
Refuge, 6772 Highway 76 South, Stanton, TN 38069.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tina Chouinard; telephone: 731/780-
8208; fax: 731/772-7839; e-mail: tina_chouinard@fws.gov .
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
With this notice, we initiate our process for developing a CCP for
Bogue Chitto NWR in St. Tammany and Washington Parishes, Louisiana, and
Pearl River County, Mississippi. This notice complies with our CCP
policy to (1) Advise other Federal and State agencies, Tribes, and the
public of our intention to conduct detailed planning on this refuge;
and (2) obtain suggestions and information on the scope of issues to
consider in the environmental document and during development of the
CCP.
Background
The CCP Process
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 strategy
for achieving refuge purposes and contributing to 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.
Each unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System is established for
specific purposes. We use these purposes as the foundation for
developing and prioritizing the management goals and objectives for
each refuge within the National Wildlife Refuge System mission, and to
determine how the public can use each refuge. The planning process is a
way for us and the public to evaluate management goals
[[Page 7914]]
and objectives for the best possible conservation approach to this
important wildlife habitat, while providing for wildlife-dependent
recreation opportunities that are compatible with the refuge's
establishing purposes and the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge
System.
Our CCP process provides participation opportunities for Tribal,
State, and local governments; agencies; organizations; and the public.
At this time we encourage input in the form of issues, concerns, ideas,
and suggestions for the future management of Bogue Chitto NWR. Special
mailings, newspaper articles, and other media outlets will be used to
announce opportunities for input throughout the planning process.
We will conduct the environmental assessment in accordance with the
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as
amended (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); NEPA regulations (40 CFR parts
1500-1508); other appropriate Federal laws and regulations; and our
policies and procedures for compliance with those laws and regulations.
Bogue Chitto NWR was established in 1981 and encompasses 36,000
acres of the Pearl River Basin. The refuge is located about 9 miles
northeast of Slidell, Louisiana, in St. Tammany and Washington
Parishes, and also in Pearl River County, Mississippi. There are two
road access points: One from Interstate 59 at the Louisiana/Mississippi
border, and one west of Mississippi Highway 43 on Dumas Wise Road. The
roads provide access to a limited portion of the refuge. The office for
the refuge is located at the Southeast Louisiana Refuge Complex
Headquarters in Lacombe, LA.
The refuge's bottomland hardwood forests contain sweetgum-water oak
stands interspersed with bald cypress-water tupelo brakes and overcup
oak-water hickory stands bisected by meandering, unchanneled rivers.
Adjacent to these forested wetlands, the refuge is comprised of
approximately 1,000 acres of upland pine habitat (e.g., longleaf pine,
slash pine, and loblolly pine).
Public use on Bogue Chitto NWR is primarily hunting and fishing,
with some camping occurring along the rivers. Most of the refuge is
accessible only by boat.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment, including your personal identifying
information, may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Authority: This notice is published under the authority of the
National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, Public Law
105-57.
Dated: December 18, 2008.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. E9-3606 Filed 2-19-09; 8:45 am]
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