[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 104 (Wednesday, May 30, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31870-31871]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-13011]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R6-2011-N223; FF06R06000-FXRS1265066CCP0S2-123]
Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan for the Bowdoin National
Wildlife Refuge Complex
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 that
our Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan (Plan) and finding of no
significant impact (FONSI) for the Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge
Complex (refuge complex) is available. This final Plan describes how
the Service intends to manage this refuge complex for the next 15
years.
ADDRESSES: A copy of the Plan may be obtained by writing to U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Division of Refuge Planning, P.O. Box 25486,
Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225; or by download from http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/planning.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura King, (406) 644-2211, ext. 210
(phone); (406) 644-2661 (fax); or bowdoin@fws.gov (email).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 84,724-acre Bowdoin National Wildlife
Refuge Complex is part of the National Wildlife Refuge System. It is
located in the mixed-grass prairie region of north-central Montana,
within an area known as the prairie pothole region. The refuge complex
oversees management of five national wildlife refuges: Bowdoin National
Wildlife Refuge and four unstaffed satellite refuges--Black Coulee,
Creedman Coulee, Hewitt Lake, and Lake Thibadeau National Wildlife
Refuges. In addition, the refuge complex also manages the four-county
Bowdoin Wetland Management District (district), which has nine
waterfowl production areas in Blaine, Hill, Phillips, and Valley. While
the five national wildlife refuges and the wetland management district
were established under different authorities, they all have the
overriding purpose of providing migration, nesting, resting, and
feeding habitat for migratory birds in their wetlands and uplands. The
four satellite refuges have both fee-title and private lands within
their boundaries. The private lands are encumbered by refuge and
flowage easements giving the Service the right to impound water,
control the uses that occur on that water, and control any hunting and
trapping. Access to these privately owned areas is by landowner
permission only.
The refuge complex provides opportunities for the public to enjoy
compatible wildlife-dependent public-use activities including hunting,
limited fishing, wildlife observation, photography, environmental
education, and interpretation. A full-time staff of five and various
temporary employees manage and study refuge habitats and maintain
visitor facilities. Domestic livestock grazing, prescribed fire, and
haying are the primary management tools used to maintain and enhance
upland habitats. Water level manipulation is used to improve wetland
habitats and invasive and non-native plant species are controlled and
eradicated. Large, intact, native prairie communities can still be
found throughout the refuge complex providing nesting habitat for over
29 species of resident and migratory birds. Native grazers such as
pronghorn, white-tailed deer, and mule deer browse and graze the
uplands. Four wetland classes are found on the refuge complex:
Temporary, seasonal, semipermanent, and permanent. These wetland
classes are either freshwater or saline. There are more than 10,000
acres of wetlands in the refuge complex. These wetlands have a diverse
distribution of sizes, types, locations, and associations. As part of
the central flyway, this concentration of wetlands attracts thousands
of migrating shorebirds and waterfowl to the refuge complex.
Approximately 25,000 people visit the refuge complex annually. A
15-mile interpreted auto tour route and nature trail on the Bowdoin
National Wildlife Refuge are two of the most popular activities.
Fishing is only open on McNeil Slough and Beaver Creek WPAs. The
remaining complex waters do not support a sport fishery due high
salinity levels or shallow water depth. Excluding Holm WPA, the
remaining complex is open to limited hunting of waterfowl and upland
game birds. The four satellite refuges (with landowner permission) and
remaining eight WPAs
[[Page 31871]]
are also open to big game hunting, subject to State regulations and
seasons.
The draft Plan and environmental assessment (EA) was made available
to the public for review and comment following the announcement in the
Federal Register on June 22, 2011 (76 FR 36571-36571). The public was
given until July 25, 2011, to comment and a public meeting was held in
Malta on June 29, 2011. More than 20 individuals and groups provided
written comments and appropriate changes were made to the final plan.
The draft CCP and final EA included the analyses of three different
sets of alternatives including three alternatives for managing the
refuge complex, two alternatives to evaluate the divestiture of Lake
Thibadeau, and five alternatives for addressing the salinity and
blowing salts issue on Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge. The Region 6
Regional Director selected Alternative B for overall refuge management
and the proposed divestiture of Lake Thibadeau and Alternative 4 for
addressing the salinity and blowing salts issue. These preferred
alternatives will serve as the final plan.
The final plan identifies goals, objectives, and strategies that
describe the future management of the Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge
Complex. Alternative B for Lake Thibadeau National Wildlife Refuge
recommends divestiture. The Service owns less than 1 percent of the
lands within the 3,868-acre approved acquisition boundary; the
remaining area is private lands encumbered by refuge and flowage
easements. These easements give the Service the right to manage the
impoundments and the uses that occur on that water and to control
hunting and trapping, but these easements do not prohibit development,
grazing, or agricultural uses. Due to upstream development in the
watershed, the impoundments do not receive adequate water supplies and
are often dry enough to be farmed; the surrounding upland areas are
also farmed or heavily grazed.
This loss or lack of habitat has resulted in the Service's
recommendation to divest this refuge. For the remaining refuge complex
lands, Alternative B proposes to conserve natural resources by
restoring, protecting, and enhancing native mixed-grass prairie and
maintaining high-quality wetland habitat for target migratory and
resident birds. Invasive and nonnative plants that are causing habitat
losses and fragmentation would be controlled or eradicated, including
Russian olive trees. Research would be conducted to control crested
wheatgrass and restore treated areas. Enhanced wetlands would be
managed to mimic natural conditions for wetland-dependent migratory.
Visitor services programs would be enhanced, providing additional
opportunities for staff- and volunteer-led. A sanctuary area would be
created for waterfowl on the east side of the Bowdoin National Wildlife
Refuge closing this area to all foot traffic during the hunting season.
A new wildlife observation site would be added on the auto tour route.
The Service would work with the State to determine the feasibility of
offering a big game hunt at Bowdoin Refuge. The success of all of these
additional efforts and programs would depend on added staff, research,
and monitoring programs, including additional funding, infrastructure,
and new and expanded partnerships.
Alternative 4 was chosen as the preferred alternative for
addressing the salinity and blowing salts issue, improving plant and
animal diversity. An underground injection well, possibly more than
6,000 feet, would be used to force saline water deep into the ground.
An annual withdrawal of 800 acre-feet of water would be required to
maintain the salt balance, assuming all water and salt inputs remained
consistent with past inputs. Once the salinity objective of 7,000 mg/L
was met and water in Lake Bowdoin met all applicable water quality
standards, modifications to the lake's infrastructure would be
evaluated to determine the best way to re-create a flow-through system
that maximized the effects of natural flooding. If natural flooding did
not occur or more water to be supplied from the Milk River was not
granted, the injection well could be used periodically to maintain
salinity at an acceptable level. It is estimated that it will take 10-
20 years to achieve the salinity and water quality objectives.
Throughout this process, the Service will also work with partners to
determine how to best minimize salt inputs into the refuge.
The Service is furnishing this notice to advise other agencies and
the public of the availability of the final Plan, to provide
information on the desired conditions for the refuge complex and to
detail how the Service will implement management strategies. Based on
the review and evaluation of the information contained in the EA, the
Regional Director has determined that implementation of the Final Plan
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. Therefore,
an Environmental Impact Statement will not be prepared.
Dated: December 23, 2011.
Noreen Walsh,
Deputy Regional Director.
Editorial Note: This document was received at the Office of the
Federal Register on May 24, 2012.
[FR Doc. 2012-13011 Filed 5-29-12; 8:45 am]
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