[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 189 (Thursday, September 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60522-60523]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-25068]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R7-R-2011-N136; 70133-1265-0000-S3]
Selawik National Wildlife Refuge, Kotzebue, AK; Revised
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, USFWS), announce
the availability of our revised comprehensive conservation plan (CCP)
and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for the Selawik National
Wildlife Refuge (Refuge). In this revised CCP, we describe how we will
manage the Refuge for the next 15 years.
ADDRESSES: You may view or obtain copies of the revised CCP and FONSI
by any of the following methods. You may request a paper copy, a
summary, or a CD-ROM containing both.
You may request hard copies or a CD-ROM of the document.
Agency Web Site: Download a copy of the document at http://alaska.fws.gov/nwr/planning/plans.htm.
E-mail: selawik_planning@fws.gov; please include ``Selawik
National Wildlife Refuge CCP'' in the subject line of the message.
Fax: Attn: Jeffrey Brooks, (907) 786-3965, or Lee Anne Ayres, (907)
442-3124.
U.S. Mail: Jeffrey Brooks, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regional
Office, 1011 E. Tudor Road Mailstop 231, Anchorage, AK 99503.
In-Person Viewing or Pickup: Call (907) 786-3357 to make an
appointment during regular business hours at the above address; or call
(907) 442-3799 to make an appointment during regular business hours at
the Selawik Refuge Headquarters in Kotzebue, AK.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Brooks, Planning Team Leader,
at the above address, by phone at (907) 786-3839, or by e-mail at
selawik_planning@fws.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
With this notice, we finalize the revised CCP for Selawik National
Wildlife Refuge. We started this process through a notice of intent in
the Federal Register (73 FR 57143; October 1, 2008). We made available
our draft CCP and Environmental Assessment (EA) and requested comments
in a notice of availability in the Federal Register (75 FR 65026,
October 21, 2010). The draft CCP and EA evaluated three alternatives
for managing the Refuge for the next 15 years.
The Selawik National Wildlife Refuge was established by the Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) in 1980. Selawik
Refuge straddles the Arctic Circle in northwestern Alaska, encompassing
an area approximately the size of Connecticut. Refuge boundaries
encompass approximately 3.2 million acres, of which approximately 2.5
million acres are administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Section 302(7)(B) of ANILCA states the purposes for which the Selawik
Refuge was established: (1) To conserve fish and wildlife populations
and habitats in their natural diversity; (2) to fulfill international
treaty obligations of the United States with respect to fish and
wildlife and their habitats; (3) to provide the opportunity for
continued
[[Page 60523]]
subsistence use by local residents; and (4) to ensure water quality and
necessary water quantity within the Refuge.
Access to the Refuge is possible only by boat, float- or ski-
equipped airplane, snowmobile, or dogsled team. Snowmobile trails
provide vital links among the Alaska Native villages of the region in
winter and are usually passable to travelers through the end of April.
Several of these villages are located within or near the Refuge
boundary, including Buckland, Noorvik, Selawik, Kiana, Ambler, Kobuk,
and Shungnak.
The Draft CCP and EA for the Refuge were developed consistent with
Section 304(g) of ANILCA. Based on public scoping, we identified eight
major planning issues: (1) Protection of fish, wildlife, habitats, and
subsistence; (2) management of access to refuge lands for community
residents and the visiting public; (3) maintaining hunting
opportunities; (4) addressing local public use needs; (5) maintaining
water quality and quantity; (6) maintaining the wild character of the
Refuge and quality visitor experiences; (7) proactively addressing the
uncertainties of climate change; and (8) providing more outreach and
better communication for the public. We considered and evaluated all of
these issues through the alternatives, goals, and objectives addressed
or described in the draft CCP and the EA.
CCP Alternatives We Considered
The draft CCP and EA described and evaluated three alternatives for
managing the Refuge. These alternatives followed much of the same
general management direction. Alternative A (the No-Action
Alternative), required under the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), described continuation of current management activities. Under
Alternative A, management of the Refuge would have continued to follow
direction described in the 1987 CCP and record of decision as modified
by subsequent program-specific plans (e.g., fisheries and fire
management plans). Alternative A would have continued to protect and
maintain the existing wildlife values, natural diversity, and
ecological integrity of the Refuge. Human disturbances to fish and
wildlife habitats and populations would have been minimal. Private and
commercial uses of the Refuge would not have changed, and public uses
employing existing access methods would have continued to be allowed.
Opportunities would have been maintained to pursue traditional
subsistence activities and recreational hunting, fishing, and other
wildlife dependent activities. Opportunities would have been maintained
to pursue research activities.
Alternative B (the Preferred Alternative) proposed to follow
management direction described in the 1987 CCP and record of decision
as modified by subsequent program-specific plans, but some of that
management direction has been updated by changes in policy since the
1987 Selawik CCP was approved. Alternative B identified these specific
changes in management direction and new goals and objectives for Refuge
management that would be adopted regardless of which alternative is
selected. Alternative B proposed continuing the policy of not making
some public lands, which are intermingled with private lands, available
for use by commercial guides and transporters whose clients are big
game hunting. Alternative B proposed that a formal partnership be
created between the Refuge and local entities to jointly maintain a
shared facility of one or more buildings with capacity for office,
meeting, and storage space in a community within the refuge.
Alternative B proposed a study of traditional access for subsistence
purposes. Alternative B proposed that local public use and access needs
be addressed by creating formal partnerships between the Refuge and
various local entities.
Alternative C would have continued to follow management direction
described in Alternative A as modified by subsequent program-specific
plans. Alternative C would have identified any specific changes or
updates in management direction and adopted the new goals and
objectives for Refuge management. Alternative C proposed that the
Refuge manager could open or close some public lands, which are
intermingled with private lands, to use by commercial guides and
transporters whose clients are big game hunting. Alternative C proposed
that the Refuge independently maintain a facility of one or more
buildings with capacity for office, meeting, and storage space in a
community within the refuge. Alternative C proposed the same study of
traditional access for subsistence purposes. Alternative C would
address local public use and access needs slightly differently from
Alternative B by proposing to expand or improve some opportunities for
public use and access on Refuge lands.
Changes Between Draft and Final Plan
The preferred alternative (Alternative B) was slightly modified as
a result of public comments on the draft Plan. Use by commercial guides
and transporters for big game hunting is not authorized by permit
stipulation on refuge lands that are in close proximity to or
intermingled with private lands in the northwest portion of the refuge.
Alternative B was modified to authorize use by commercial guides and
transporters in an additional 68,000 acres of the refuge. In addition,
Alternative B was modified to indicate that, on a case-by-case basis,
the refuge manager may authorize commercial use by special use permit
for a part of the area where guiding is not authorized upon completion
of a compatibility determination and a subsistence evaluation as
required by ANILCA Section 810.
The management of shelter cabins on refuge lands in Alternative B
was modified to include the following management. A formal partnership
will be created among the Service, Selawik Refuge, Northwest Arctic
Borough, NANA regional corporation, and local search and rescue
organizations to formalize the roles and responsibilities of each
partner in performing regular maintenance and/or replacement of shelter
cabins on refuge lands. Members of the formal partnership will review
the need for additional shelter cabins and appropriate location(s) for
them, with the option of joint construction of an additional 1-2
shelter cabins or relocation of an existing shelter cabin on refuge
lands.
Compliance With the National Environmental Policy Act
We are furnishing this notice to advise other agencies and the
public of the availability of the final CCP and FONSI. Based on the
review and evaluation of the information contained in the draft CCP and
EA, we have determined that implementation of the final CCP does not
constitute a major Federal action that would significantly affect the
quality of the human environment within the meaning of Section
102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Therefore,
an Environmental Impact Statement will not be prepared. Future site-
specific proposals discussed in the final CCP requiring additional NEPA
compliance will be addressed in separate planning efforts with full
public involvement.
Dated: September 22, 2011.
Geoffrey L. Haskett,
Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska.
[FR Doc. 2011-25068 Filed 9-28-11; 8:45 am]
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