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Welcome to Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge

Situated on a high plateau where the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains and the Chihuahuan desert come together, Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge provides habitat for a diversity of plant and animal life. Established for migratory birds traveling along the Central Flyway, this 8,672 acre refuge is comprised of native grasslands, croplands, marshes, ponds, timbered canyons and streams which provide important habitat for over 254 species of birds. Las Vegas (Spanish for "the meadows") preserves not only wildlife homes, but also a slice of northeastern New Mexico's rich cultural history.

Refuge Hours
The Refuge is open to the public from dawn to dusk, seven days a week. The Refuge headquarters office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except when closed for federal holidays. If you are planing to visit the Refuge when the office is not open, you can call ahead for more information. Otherwise, Refuge information is available from the brochure box next to the gate at the headquarters driveway.

New Mexico Fire District Draft Fire Management Plan and Environmental Assessment

The Department of the Interior, United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) requires that every area with burnable vegetation have an approved Fire Management Plan (FMP) that describes actions to prepare for and respond to a wildfire (fire suppression), to plan and conduct prescribed fires, and to complete other fire management business. The FWS has begun the planning process to prepare a Fire Management Plan and Environmental Assessment (FMP/EA) that will analyze various treatment methods (such as prescribed fire, mechanical, and chemical) to achieve fire management objectives at Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge.

This Scoping Document describes the purpose and need for the proposed fire management actions and presents four preliminary alternatives for implementing the New Mexico District FMP. You are encouraged to submit comments about the information contained in this Scoping Document. Please be as specific as possible when commenting because specific details about what concerns you are most useful to the planning and environmental analysis process.

There are two ways to submit comments after your review of this Scoping Document.

Email
r2fireplanning@fws.gov

U.S. Postal Service
New Mexico Fire District FM/EA
c/o San Andres NWR
5686 Santa Gertrudis Drive
Las Cruces, NM 88012

The scoping period begins on December 15, 2011, and will end on January 20, 2012 (37 days), so please submit your comments by January 20.

FWS New Mexico Fire District Scoping Document (PDF, 296K)

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Revised June, 2005