[Federal Register: February 24, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 36)]
[Notices]
[Page 8396-8397]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24fe10-128]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R7-R-2009-N288; 70133-1265-0000-U4]
Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Cold Bay, Alaska
AGENCY: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Revised Notice
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), intend to
prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for a proposed land
exchange of certain lands owned by the State of Alaska and certain
lands owned by the King Cove Corporation and evaluation of a proposed
road corridor through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and the
Izembek Wilderness Area. We published a notice in the Federal Register
on August 6, 2009, inviting suggestions on the scope of issues to
address in the EIS. We now provide a comment-period end date and
announce the dates, times, and locations of upcoming public meetings.
Special mailings, newspaper articles, and other media releases will
announce additional opportunities to provide written and oral input.
DATES: Meetings: Public scoping meetings will be held in Anchorage,
Alaska on March 4, 2010, 5-8 p.m. and on March 11, 2010, 1-4 p.m. in
Washington, DC. In addition, we will hold public scoping meetings in
King Cove, Cold Bay, Sand Point, and Nelson Lagoon in Alaska. We will
announce these meeting dates, times, and locations locally, at least 10
days prior to each meeting.
Comments: Please provide any written comments, information, or
suggestions on the scope of issues to address in the EIS by April 30,
2010.
ADDRESSES: Additional information concerning the proposed land exchange
is at http://izembek.fws.gov/EIS.htm. Send your comments or requests
for information by any of the following methods:
E-mail: izembek_eis@fws.gov;
Fax: Attn: Stephanie Brady, (907) 786-3965; or
U.S. Mail: Stephanie Brady, Project Coordinator, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, 1011 East Tudor Rd., MS-231, Anchorage, AK 99503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Brady, 907-246-1203 (phone),
or at the addresses above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge
(417,533 acres) and the North Creek (8,452 acres) and Pavlof (1,447,264
acres) units of the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge are
located at the westernmost tip of the Alaska Peninsula. The 1,008,697-
acre Unimak Island (the easternmost Aleutian Island of the Alaska
Maritime National Wildlife Refuge) lies across the Isanotski Strait. To
the north of the Izembek Refuge is the Bering Sea; to the south is the
Pacific Ocean. The Alaska Peninsula is dominated by the rugged Aleutian
Range, part of the Aleutian arc chain of volcanoes. Landforms include
mountains, active volcanoes, U-shaped valleys, glacial moraines, low
tundra wetlands, lakes, sand dunes, and lagoons. Elevations range from
sea level to the 9,372-foot Shishaldin Volcano. Shishaldin Volcano is a
designated National Natural Landmark.
Several major lagoons are within the Izembek Refuge boundary. These
lagoons contain some of the world's largest eelgrass beds. The lagoons
are under the jurisdiction of the State of Alaska. Izembek Lagoon is
designated as Izembek State Game Refuge. Birds from all over the Arctic
funnel through Izembek Refuge in fall on their way to wintering grounds
throughout the world. More than 98 percent of the world's Pacific black
brant use Izembek Lagoon as a staging area for their fall migration to
Mexico. Other birds that use the refuge include golden plovers, ruddy
turnstones, western sandpipers, tundra swans, Steller's eiders, and
emperor geese. The refuge also is home to large concentrations of brown
bears and other large mammals, such as caribou and wolves. The red,
pink, chum, and silver salmon that use the waters within the refuge
enrich the entire ecosystem with the nutrients they bring from the sea.
The refuge also has a rich human history, from ancient settlements of
Alaska Natives, through the 18th and 19th century Russian fur traders,
to a World War II outpost. The Izembek Wilderness covers much of the
refuge and includes pristine streams, extensive wetlands, steep
mountains, tundra, and sand dunes, and provides high scenic, wildlife,
and scientific values, as well as outstanding opportunities for
solitude and primitive recreation.
Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge stretches from the Arctic
Ocean to the southeast panhandle of Alaska and protects breeding
habitat for seabirds, marine mammals, and other wildlife on more than
2,500 islands, spires, rocks, and coastal headlands. Sitkinak Island,
which lies within the boundaries of the Alaska Maritime National
Wildlife Refuge, is primarily owned by the State of Alaska, with two
parcels owned by the Service.
The King Cove Corporation is an Alaska Native Village Corporation
established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971
(ANCSA; 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). Under the authority of ANCSA, Congress
granted King Cove Corporation land entitlements within and adjacent to
Izembek Refuge. The State of Alaska also owns lands, submerged lands,
shorelands, and tidelands within and adjacent to Izembek and Alaska
Peninsula Refuges, including the Izembek State Game Refuge.
In the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (H.R. 146,
Subtitle E; the Act), Congress directed us to prepare an EIS under the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321
et seq.), and
[[Page 8397]]
its implementing regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) to evaluate the
impacts of a proposed land exchange with the State of Alaska and the
King Cove Corporation for the purpose of constructing a single-lane
gravel road between the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay, Alaska.
The land exchange would involve the removal of approximately 206 acres
within the Izembek Wilderness portion of Izembek National Wildlife
Refuge for the road corridor and approximately 1,600 acres of Federal
land within the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge on Sitkinak
Island. In exchange, we would receive approximately 43,093 acres of
land owned by the State of Alaska and approximately 13,300 acres of
land owned by the King Cove Corporation. These lands are located around
Cold Bay and adjacent to the North Creek Unit of Alaska Peninsula
National Wildlife Refuge.
The Act directed us to begin our preparation of this EIS not later
than 60 days after the Secretary received notification by the State and
the King Cove Corporation of their intention to exchange lands. The
Secretary received notification from the King Cove Corporation on May
19, 2009, and from the State of Alaska on June 19, 2009. Our notice of
August 6, 2009 (74 FR 39336), initiated the process and opened the
period for public scoping. This revised notice informs the public of
the dates for the public scoping meetings in Washington, DC, and
Anchorage, Alaska, and also notifies the public of the comment-period
end date (see DATES). We will also hold public scoping meetings at King
Cove, Cold Bay, Sand Point, and Nelson Lagoon, Alaska; we will announce
the dates, times, and locations locally, at least 10 days prior to each
meeting.
In accordance with Section 6402(b)(2)(B) of the Act, the EIS will
analyze the proposed land exchange and the potential construction and
operation of a road between the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay,
Alaska, and will evaluate a specific road corridor through the Izembek
Refuge that will be identified in consultation with the State of
Alaska, the City of King Cove, and the Agdaagux Tribe of King Cove. The
alternatives anticipated at this time include the existing situation
(no land exchange or road construction) and the proposed land exchange
and road construction and operation as outlined in the Act. In
preparing the EIS, we will request comments from the public locally,
regionally, and nationally. As required in the Act, subsequent to the
preparation of the EIS and in conjunction with the Record of Decision,
the Secretary of the Interior will determine whether the land exchange
(including the construction of the proposed road) is in the public
interest. We anticipate release of the Draft EIS in the spring of 2011,
followed by a 90-day public review period.
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 to withhold it from public review, we cannot guarantee we will
be able to do so.
Dated: February 16, 2010.
Geoffrey L. Haskett,
Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska.
[FR Doc. 2010-3642 Filed 2-23-10; 8:45 am]
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