[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 19 (Friday, January 28, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5193-5194]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-1868]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R4-R-2010-N161; 40136-1265-0000-S3]
Felsenthal/Overflow National Wildlife Refuges, Ashley, Desha,
Union, and Bradley Counties, AR; Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan
and Finding of No Significant Impact for Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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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 the environmental
assessment for Felsenthal/Overflow National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs). In
the final CCP, we describe how we will manage these refuges for the
next 15 years.
ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the CCP by writing to: Mr. Bernie
Petersen, Project Leader, South Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge
Complex, 5531 Highway 82 West, Crossett, AR 71635. The CCP may also be
accessed and downloaded from the Service's Web site: http://southeast.fws.gov/planning/ under ``Final Documents.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Mike Dawson, Refuge Planner,
Jackson, MS; telephone: 601/965-4903, ext. 20; fax: 601/965-4010; e-
mail: mike_dawson@fws.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
With this notice, we finalize the CCP process for Felsenthal/
Overflow NWRs. We started this process through a notice in the Federal
Register on April 2, 2008 (73 FR 17992).
Felsenthal NWR was established in 1975 as mitigation for the
creation of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Ouachita
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and Black Rivers' Navigation Project and Felsenthal Lock and Dam. The
refuge is located in southeast Arkansas, approximately 8 miles west of
the town of Crossett. This 65,000-acre refuge is named for the small
Felsenthal community located at its southwest corner, and contains an
abundance of water resources dominated by the Ouachita and Saline
Rivers and the Felsenthal Pool.
Overflow NWR was established in 1980 and encompasses 13,973 fee-
title acres in Ashley County in southeast Arkansas, about 5 miles west
of the town of Wilmot. The refuge was established to protect one of the
remaining bottomland hardwood forests considered vital for maintaining
mallard, wood duck, and other waterfowl populations in the Mississippi
Flyway. In addition, the Oakwood Unit, an area of 2,263 acres in Desha
County that was transferred from the Farm Service Agency in 1990, is
administered by Overflow NWR.
We announce our decision and the availability of the final CCP and
FONSI for Felsenthal/Overflow NWRs 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 Felsenthal/Overflow NWRs for the next 15
years. Alternative B is the foundation for the CCP.
The compatibility determinations for (1) Hunting; (2) fishing; (3)
wildlife observation and photography; (4) environmental education and
interpretation; (5) power boating; (6) all-terrain vehicle use; (7) bee
keeping; (8) berry picking; (9) camping; (10) commercial fishing; (11)
dog field trials; (12) firewood cutting; (13) forest management; (14)
furbearer trapping; (15) horseback riding; and (16) bicycling, boating
(non-motorized), swimming, beach use, and hiking/backpacking are
available in the final CCP.
Background
The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16
U.S.C. 668dd-668ee) (Administration Act), as amended by the National
Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, 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 Administration
Act.
Comments
We made copies of the Draft CCP/EA available for a 30-day public
review period as announced in the Federal Register on June 7, 2010 (75
FR 32205). We received five comments on the Draft CCP/EA.
Selected Alternative
The Draft CCP/EA identified and evaluated three alternatives for
managing the refuges. After considering the comments we received and
based on the professional judgment of the planning team, we selected
Alternative B for implementation. We believe this alternative is the
most effective management action for meeting the vision, goals, and
purposes of the refuges by optimizing habitat management and visitor
services. This alternative will also allow the refuges to provide law
enforcement protection that adequately meets the needs of both refuges.
This alternative will focus on augmenting wildlife and habitat
management to identify, conserve, and restore populations of native
fish and wildlife species, with an emphasis on migratory birds and
threatened and endangered species. This will partially be accomplished
by increased monitoring of waterfowl, other migratory birds, and
endemic species in order to assess and adapt management strategies and
actions. The restoration of the Felsenthal Pool will be a vital part of
this management action and will be crucial to ensuring healthy and
viable ecological communities. This restoration will require increased
water management, invasive aquatic vegetation control, and
reestablishment of water quality standards and possibly populations of
game fish species. Nuisance wildlife populations and invasive plant
species will be more aggressively managed by implementing a control
plan.
Authority: This notice is published under the authority of the
National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, Public Law
105-57.
Dated: September 3, 2010.
Mark J. Musaus,
Acting Regional Director.
Editorial Note: This document was received in the Office of the
Federal Register Tuesday, January 25, 2011.
[FR Doc. 2011-1868 Filed 1-27-11; 8:45 am]
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