[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 201 (Tuesday, October 18, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64375-64376]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-26934]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R5-R-2011-N156; BAC-4311-K9-S3]
Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, Genesee County and Orleans
County, NY; 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 U.S. 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 (EA) for Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (NWR, refuge),
Genesee County and Orleans County, New York. In this final CCP, we
describe how we will manage this refuge for the next 15 years.
ADDRESSES: You may view or obtain copies of the final CCP and FONSI/EA
by any of the following methods. You may request a hard copy or CD-ROM.
Agency Web site: Download a copy of the documents at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/planning/Iroquois/ccphome.html.
E-mail: northeastplanning@fws.gov. Include ``Iroquois NWR final
CCP'' in the subject line of the message.
U.S. Mail: Iroquois NWR, 1101 Casey Road, Basom, NY 14013.
In-Person Viewing or Pickup: Call 585-948-5445 to make an
appointment (necessary for view/pickup only) during regular business
hours at above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Roster, Project Leader, 585-
948-5445, or Thomas Bonetti, Planning Team Leader, 413-253-8307
(phone); tom_bonetti@fws.gov (e-mail).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
With this notice, we finalize the CCP process for Iroquois NWR in
Basom, New York. We started this process through a notice in the
Federal Register (73 FR 10279, February 26, 2008). We released the
draft CCP and the EA to the public, announcing and requesting comments
in a notice of availability in the Federal Register (75 FR 61171,
October 4, 2010).
Iroquois NWR was established in 1958 under the Migratory Bird
Conservation Act for ``* * * use as an inviolate sanctuary, or for any
other management purpose, for migratory birds'' (16 U.S.C. 715d). The
refuge consists of more than 10,800 acres within the rural townships of
Alabama and Shelby, New York, midway between Buffalo and Rochester.
Freshwater marshes and hardwood swamps are bounded by forests,
grasslands, and wet meadows. These areas serve the habitat needs of
both migratory and resident wildlife, including waterfowl, songbirds,
mammals, and amphibians, as well as numerous indigenous plant species.
We announce our decision and the availability of the FONSI for the
final CCP for Iroquois NWR in accordance with 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 EA that accompanied the draft CCP. The CCP will guide
us in managing and administering Iroquois NWR for the next 15 years.
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 NWR. 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 and photography, and environmental education and
interpretation. We will review and update the CCP at least every 15
years in accordance with the Administration Act.
CCP Alternatives, Including Selected Alternative
Our draft CCP and our EA (75 FR 61171) addressed several issues. To
address these, we developed and evaluated the following alternatives.
Alternative A (Current Management): Alternative A continues
existing programs and activities and serves as the baseline against
which to compare the other alternatives. Under current management, we
manage open water and emergent marsh impoundments, early successional
habitat including grasslands, shrublands, and forest habitat including
a conifer plantation. Under alternative A, we would continue to conduct
furbearer management, monitor waterfowl during spring and fall
migration, conduct landbird surveys, and manage for invasive species in
the same manner as at present. We would maintain existing opportunities
for visitors to engage in wildlife observation and photography, and
environmental education and interpretation, as well as maintain
existing hunting and fishing opportunities on the refuge. We would
maintain existing infrastructure and buildings, and maintain current
staffing levels.
Alternative B (the Service-preferred alternative): This alternative
focuses on enhancing the conservation of wildlife through habitat
management, as well as providing additional visitor opportunities on
the refuge. Alternative B incorporates existing management
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activities and/or provides new initiatives or actions aimed at
improving efficiency and progress towards refuge goals and objectives.
Some of the major strategies proposed include increasing grassland,
shrubland, and forest habitats, replacing non-native conifer plantation
with native forest species, restricting public access to designated
areas of the refuge year-round, and implementing a permit system for
hunting upland game, migratory birds, and big game. This alternative
would increase some existing wildlife-dependent recreational
activities, including wildlife observation and hunting. We would co-
locate the Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office
(LGLFWCO) with a new visitor contact station and administrative
building by adding on to the existing building. If funds permit, we
would expand our existing staff to include a full-time permanent law
enforcement officer, maintenance worker, biological technician, and one
part-time biological technician.
Alternative C (Improved Biological Integrity): Alternative C
prominently features additional management that aims to restore or
mimic natural ecosystem processes or function to achieve refuge
purposes. Under alternative C, refuge habitat conditions would change
as a result of management decisions that target a more natural state
and emphasize restoration to historical habitats. Refuge impoundments
would no longer be actively managed and some would be removed. This
would result in a decrease of 329 acres of open water and emergent
marsh habitat. Grassland acres would be reduced by 50 percent as only
the two largest grassland units would be managed. Management of
shrublands would be discontinued, and the only shrub habitats that
would remain are small native shrub swamps. Forest cover would increase
(1,548 additional acres) under this alternative in response to the
reversion, succession, and conversion of conifer plantations and other
refuge habitats to forest. Similar to alternative B, we propose to
restrict public access to designated areas of the refuge year-round,
allowing wildlife observation, hiking, and walking on established
refuge nature trails. Also, we propose to co-locate the LGLFWCO
currently located in Amherst, New York, with a new visitor contact
station and administration building at Iroquois NWR.
Comments
We solicited comments on the draft CCP and the EA for Iroquois NWR
via a Federal Register notice that was published on October 4, 2010 (75
FR 61171). We received 37 comments, which we assessed during the
content analysis process. Appendix I in the final CCP includes a
summary of those comments, our responses to them, and additional
rationale for any changes made.
Selected Alternative
We have selected alternative B for implementation, with the
following modifications:
Due to comments directed at closing the refuge to
wandering, we decided to allow visitors unrestricted access off
designated trails, but only during the hunting season (October 1 to the
end of February). All visitors, including those wandering on the
refuge, must wear hunter orange during the firearm deer seasons. Hunter
orange must be visible from 360 degrees and must be at least 400 square
inches of solid fluorescent orange on head, chest, and back. There will
be no wandering in any refuge wetlands, only upland wandering will be
permitted. The refuge will continue to restrict public access for
hiking and walking to designated trails from March 1 to September 30.
Based on feedback we received from our partners and the
public, we decided to modify the alternative B turkey hunting proposal.
The new framework will consist of two seasons. The first season will
run from May 1 to May 15 with 50 permits available. The second season
will run from May 16 to May 31 with 25 permits available. Permits will
be allocated on a lottery system basis with hunters choosing their
desired season in order of preference. Hunters may receive a permit for
one season only.
The refuge also reconsidered its decision to not allow
fall turkey hunting on the refuge. There will be no additional
administrative burden on the refuge by having this season added to the
refuge hunts.
Public Availability of Documents
In addition to any methods in ADDRESSES, you can view or obtain
documents on our regional planning Web site: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/planning/.
Dated: September 16, 2011.
Theresa E. Rabot,
Acting Regional Director, Northeast Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Hadley, Massachusetts.
[FR Doc. 2011-26934 Filed 10-17-11; 8:45 am]
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