[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 204 (Friday, October 21, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65525-65526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-27263]
[[Page 65525]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R6-R-2011-N134; 60138-1265-6CCP-S3]
Huron, Madison, and Sand Lake Wetland Management District;
Comprehensive Conservation Plan
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce
that our draft comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and environmental
assessment (EA) for the Huron, Madison, and Sand Lake Wetland
Management Districts is available. This draft CCP/EA describes how the
Service intends to manage these wetland management districts for the
next 15 years.
DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive your written comments
on the draft CCP/EA by November 21, 2011. Submit comments by one of the
methods under ADDRESSES.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments or requests for more information by any
of the following methods.
E-mail: bernardo_garza@fws.gov. Include ``South Dakota WMDs Draft
CCP/EA'' in the subject line of the message.
U.S. Mail: Bernardo Garza, Planning Team Leader, Division of Refuge
Planning, P.O. Box 25486--DFC, Denver, CO 80225-0486.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bernardo Garza, 303-236-4377 (phone);
303-236-4792 (fax); or bernardo_garza@fws.gov (e-mail) or David C.
Lucas, 303-236-4366 (phone): 303-236-4792 (fax): or david_c_lucas@fws.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Huron Wetland Management District
(district), Madison Wetland Management District, and Sand Lake Wetland
Management District are part of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Together, these three districts manage 445 waterfowl production areas
(WPA); over 378,000 acres of wetland easements, and more than 616,000
acres of grassland easements and other lands, such as Farmers Home
Administration lands, in 27 counties in northern and eastern South
Dakota. The lands managed by these districts comprise a mosaic of
wetlands and grasslands which, with only few exceptions, are all within
an area known as the prairie pothole region. These wetlands range from
seasonal shallow basins to deeper, more permanent ponds that provide
resting and feeding areas for millions of migratory birds during spring
and fall migration, and year round for many other resident wildlife
species.
The fee lands administered by these three districts provide
opportunities for the public to enjoy compatible wildlife-dependent
public use activities including hunting, fishing, wildlife observation,
photography, environmental education, and interpretation. Domestic
livestock grazing, prescribed fire, and haying are the primary
management tools used to maintain and enhance WPA habitats. Where
available, water level manipulation is used to improve wetland
habitats. Invasive and nonnative plant species are controlled and
eradicated in ongoing and methodical cooperative management activities
with county governments and adjacent landowners.
Large, intact, native prairie communities can still be found
throughout the area encompassed by these districts providing nesting
habitat for a wide array of resident and migratory birds. As part of
the central flyway, the concentration and variety of wetland types
found in the planning area attracts thousands of migrating shorebirds
and waterfowl to the district's lands.
Alternatives for the Overall Management of the Districts
The draft CCP/EA for the Huron, Madison, and Sand Lake Wetland
Management Districts includes the analyses and description of three
alternatives, including the No Action or Current Management
Alternative, for the management of the district.
Alternative A, Current Management (No Action). Under this
alternative, management activities currently conducted by the Service
throughout all three districts would not change. The no-action
alternative provides the baseline against which to compare other
alternatives. It is also a requirement of the National Environmental
Policy Act that a no-action alternative be addressed in the planning
process. The Service would not develop any new management, restoration,
education, or visitor services programs for the districts. Staff would
not expand or change current habitat and wildlife management practices
conducted for the benefit of waterfowl, migratory birds, and other
wildlife. Staff would conduct monitoring, inventory, and research
activities at their current level (that is, limited, issue-driven
research and limited avian and vegetative monitoring and inventory).
Funding and staff levels would not change, and programs would follow
the same direction, emphasis, and intensity as they do at present.
Alternative B, Increased Efficiency (proposed action). Under this
alternative, management of the three districts would emphasize
developing and implementing an improved, science-based priority system
to restore native prairie habitats for the benefit of waterfowl and
other migratory birds. District staff would focus on high-priority
tracts and, when possible, on medium-priority tracts. The focus of this
alternative would be to restore ecological processes and native
grassland species to the greatest extent possible within the parameters
of available resources and existing budgetary and staffing constraints.
Under this alternative, district staff would seek to maintain the
existing levels and types of public use programs, ensuring that
programs offered to the public are of consistently high quality.
Alternative C, Increased Efficiency with Expanded Resources. Under
this alternative, management would follow the same prioritization
system for restoration and management as under alternative B, but it
would be based on projected staffing and funding increases. The
management focus, like that of alternative B, would follow an improved
prioritization system, but would also widen into additional existing
WPAs. With increased funding and staffing, acquisition of new WPAs in
fee title would also increase. Similarly, increased funding and
staffing would enable commensurate increases in the number and scope of
partnerships. The districts would continue to provide the same types of
public uses but would expand the scope and quality of these
opportunities.
Under Alternative C, targeting management of native prairie/wetland
complexes would be more intensive and widespread. District staff would
seek out projects for restoring high-quality native prairie in both
high-and-low-priority tracts. This alternative would have the potential
to provide additional management options to address habitat
requirements and wildlife needs. The staff would seek to develop new
environmental education and other public use programs as well as to
reach out to new users. As under alternative B, the Service proposes,
at a future date, a new administration/visitor center for the Huron WMD
at the Taha-Mahopi WPA near the City of Huron, South Dakota.
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Public Meetings and Availability of Comments
The Service will carry out open house public meetings during the
public review period. District staff will be available during those
public meetings to address questions from the attending public and
provide printed or electronic copies (on compact discs) of the draft
plan to anyone requesting them. Please visit the following Web sites
for dates and other details regarding the upcoming public meetings.
Huron WMD: http://www.fws.gov/huronwetlands/.
Madison WMD: http://www.fws.gov/madisonwetlands/.
Sand Lake WMD: http://www.fws.gov/sandlake/.
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. We will not consider anonymous comments. We will always
make submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals
identifying themselves as representatives of or officials of
organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their
entirety.
The environmental review of this project will be conducted in
accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); NEPA
Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508); Department of Interior NEPA
regulations; other appropriate Federal laws and regulations; Executive
Order 12996 ``Management and General Public Use of the National
Wildlife Refuge System''; the National Wildlife Refuge System
Improvement Act of 1997; and Service policies and procedures for
compliance with those laws and regulations.
Dated: July 21, 2011.
Noreen E. Walsh,
Deputy Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2011-27263 Filed 10-20-11; 8:45 am]
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