[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 241 (Monday, December 16, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76169-76171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-29832]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R5-R-2013-N097; BAC-4311-K9-S3]
Patuxent Research Refuge, Prince George's and Anne Arundel
Counties, MD; Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Finding of No
Significant Impact
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of the final comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and
finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for Patuxent Research Refuge
(Patuxent RR, refuge), located in Prince George's and Anne Arundel
Counties, Maryland. In this final CCP, we describe how we will manage
the refuge for the next 15 years.
ADDRESSES: You may view or obtain copies of the final CCP and FONSI by
any of the following methods. You may request a hard copy or a CD-ROM.
Agency Web site: Download a copy of the document at: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/planning/patuxent/ccphome.html.
Email: Send requests to northeastplanning@fws.gov. Include
``Patuxent CCP'' in the subject line of your email.
Mail: Bill Perry, Natural Resource Planner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, MA 01035.
Fax: Attention: Bill Perry, 413-253-8468.
In-Person Viewing or Pickup: Call 301-497-5580 to make an
appointment (necessary for view/pickup only) during regular business
hours at Patuxent RR, 10901 Scarlet Tanager Loop, Laurel, MD 20708. For
more information on locations for viewing or obtaining documents, see
``Public Availability of Documents'' under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad Knudsen, Refuge Manager, 301-437-
5580 (phone) or Bill Perry, Planning Team Leader, 413-253-8688 (phone);
northeastplanning@fws.gov (email).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
With this notice, we finalize the CCP process for Patuxent RR. We
started this process through a notice of intent in the Federal Register
(76 FR 12563) on March 16, 2010. We announced the release of the draft
CCP and environmental assessment (EA) to the public and requested
comments in a notice of availability in the Federal Register (77 FR
24929) on October 10, 2012.
Patuxent RR was established in 1936 by Executive Order by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt ``to effectuate further the purposes of the
Migratory Bird Conservation Act'' and ``as a wildlife experiment and
research refuge.'' The total approved acquisition boundary encompasses
12,841 acres between Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, DC, an area
with one of the highest densities of development in the United States.
Currently, about 10,000 of Patuxent RR's 12,841 acres are forest, but
the refuge also contains grasslands, freshwater marshes, shrub and
early successional forest, and open water. It provides important
habitat for a variety of migratory birds of conservation concern. The
refuge also offers unique opportunities for environmental education and
interpretation in an urban setting. It is home to the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, a leading
international research institute for wildlife and applied environmental
research.
We announce our decision and the availability of the FONSI for the
final CCP for Patuxent RR in accordance with National Environmental
Policy Act
[[Page 76170]]
(NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) requirements. We completed a thorough
analysis of impacts on the human environment, which we included in the
draft CCP/EA.
The CCP will guide us in managing and administering Patuxent RR for
the next 15 years. Alternative B, as described for the refuge in the
draft CCP/EA, and with minor modifications described below, is the
foundation for the final CCP.
Background
The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16
U.S.C. 668dd-668ee) (Refuge Administration Act), as amended by the
National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, requires us to
develop a CCP for each refuge. The purpose for developing a CCP is to
provide refuge managers with a 15-year plan for achieving refuge
purposes and contributing to the mission of the National Wildlife
Refuge System (NWRS), 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, environmental
education and interpretation. We will review and update the CCP at
least every 15 years in accordance with the Refuge Administration Act.
CCP Alternatives, Including the Selected Alternative
Our draft CCP/EA (77 FR 24929) addressed several key issues,
including:
Evaluating reforestation of the refuge.
Better understanding the implications and trade-offs of
habitat management on refuge wildlife.
Identifying and addressing climate change concerns
impacting the refuge.
Providing more public use opportunities on the refuge.
Inventorying historic resources on the refuge, providing
public access to these resources, and highlighting the historical
significance of the refuge.
Expanding and strengthening partnerships.
To address these issues and develop a plan based on the refuge's
establishing purposes, vision, and goals, we evaluated three management
alternatives for Patuxent RR in the draft CCP/EA. The alternatives have
several actions in common. All alternatives include measures to control
invasive species, monitor and abate diseases affecting wildlife and
plant health, coordinate with USGS to house and support research
efforts, protect cultural resources, continue existing projects managed
by outside programs, and minimize impacts from the shooting ranges
located on the refuge. There are also several actions that are common
to both alternatives B and C. These include using green technology to
update refuge buildings and grounds, constructing additional space for
environmental education and interpretation classes, and collaborating
with stakeholders on a redesign of the shooting ranges. There are other
actions that differ among the alternatives. The draft CCP/EA provides a
full description of each alternative and relates each to the issues and
concerns that arose during the planning process. Below, we provide
summaries of the three alternatives.
Management Alternatives
Alternative A (Current Management)
Alternative A (current management) satisfies the NEPA requirement
of a ``no action'' alternative, which we define as ``continuing current
management.'' It describes our existing management priorities and
activities, and serves as a baseline for comparing and contrasting
alternatives B and C. It would maintain our present levels of approved
refuge staffing and the biological and visitor programs now in place.
We would continue to manage for and maintain a diversity of habitats,
including forests, forested wetlands, pine-oak savannah, grasslands,
and scrub-shrub on the refuge. The refuge would continue to provide an
active visitor use program that supports environmental education and
interpretation, hunting, fishing, and wildlife observation and
photography.
Alternative B (Forest Restoration and Mixed Public Use)
This alternative is the Service-preferred alternative. It combines
the actions we believe would most effectively achieve the refuge's
purposes, vision, and goals, and respond to the issues raised during
the scoping period. It emphasizes the management of specific refuge
habitats to support species of conservation concern in the Chesapeake
Bay region. In particular, it emphasizes forest biodiversity and
ecosystem function. This includes the restoration of a number of
impoundments and grasslands to forested areas to support forest
interior-dwelling bird species and other forest-dependent species. In
addition, alternative B strives to promote wildlife-dependent public
uses, while allowing for nonwildlife-dependent public uses. In
particular, it promotes higher quality hunting and fishing programs,
expands wildlife observation and photography opportunities, and
initiates new interpretive and environmental education opportunities.
Alternative C (Maximize Forest Interior Restoration and Emphasize
Wildlife-dependent Public Use Activities)
Alternative C would focus on maximizing interior forest habitat.
This would require active management to restore a majority of
impoundments and grasslands into forested areas that would support
forest interior-dwelling species, in addition to other species of
conservation concern. Alternative C also focuses on accommodating
wildlife-dependent public uses while minimizing nonwildlife-dependent
uses, particularly by expanding wildlife observation and photography
opportunities, and reducing the number of special events and
interpretive programming.
Comments
We solicited comments on the draft CCP/EA for Patuxent RR from
October 10 to November 26, 2012 (77 FR 24929). During the comment
period, we received 73 written responses. We evaluated all of the
substantive comments we received, and include a summary of those
comments, and our responses to them, as appendix I in the final CCP.
Selected Alternative
After considering the comments we received on our draft CCP/EA, we
made several minor changes to alternative B, including correcting minor
editorial, formatting, and typographical errors. These changes are
described in the FONSI (appendix H in the final CCP) and in our
response to public comments (appendix I in the final CCP).
We have selected alternative B to implement for Patuxent RR, with
these minor changes, for several reasons. Alternative B comprises a mix
of actions that, in our professional judgment, work best towards
achieving the refuge's purposes, vision, and goals, NWRS policies, and
the goals of other State and regional conservation plans. We also
believe that alternative B most effectively addresses key issues raised
during the planning process. The basis of our decision is detailed in
the FONSI (appendix H in the final CCP).
[[Page 76171]]
Public Availability of Documents
You can view or obtain the final CCP, including the FONSI, as
indicated under ADDRESSES.
Dated: September 30, 2013.
Wendi Weber,
Regional Director, Northeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2013-29832 Filed 12-13-13; 8:45 a.m.]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P