[Federal Register: November 26, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 228)]
[Notices]
[Page 66474-66475]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26no03-95]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Notice of Intent To Revise a Comprehensive Conservation Plan and
Associated Environmental Impact Statement for the Izembek National
Wildlife Refuge, Cold Bay, AK

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (Service) intends to gather information necessary to revise the
Comprehensive Conservation Plan (Plan) and an associated Environmental
Impact Statement, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act and
its implementing regulations, for the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge,
which includes the Unimak Island unit of the Alaska Maritime National
Wildlife Refuge and the North Creek and Pavlof units of Alaska
Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge, headquartered in Cold Bay, Alaska.
The Service is furnishing this notice in compliance with the National
Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as amended, and with
Service planning policy to advise other agencies and the public of our
intentions and to obtain suggestions and information on the scope of
issues to be addressed in the environmental documents.
    Special mailings, newspaper articles, and other media announcements
will inform people of opportunities to provide written input throughout
the planning process. Public meetings will be held in communities near
the Refuge (e.g., Cold Bay, King Cove, False Pass, Sand Point, and
Nelson Lagoon) and in the city of Anchorage. The Draft and Final Plans
and associated Environmental Impact Statement will be available for
viewing and downloading at http://www.r7.fws.gov/planning.

ADDRESSES: Address comments, questions, and requests to Maggi Arend,
Planning Team Leader, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1011 East Tudor Rd. MS-231, Anchorage, AK 99503 or fw7_Izembek_planning@fws.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Maggi Arend, Planning Team Leader, US
Fish and Wildlife Service, 1011 East Tudor Rd., MS-231, Anchorage, AK 99503 or fw7_Izembek_planning@fws.gov. Additional information
concerning the Plan can be found at http://www.r7.fws.gov/planning and concerning the Refuge at http://refuges.fws.gov.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By Federal law (National Wildlife Refuge
System Administration Act of 1966, as amended by the National Wildlife
Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (Administration Act) [16 U.S.C.
668dd--668ee]), all lands within the National Wildlife Refuge System
are to be managed in accordance with an approved Comprehensive
Conservation Plan. Section 304(g) of the Alaska National Interest Lands
Conservation Act (Pub. L. 96-487, 94 Stat. 2371) also directs that
these plans be prepared. The Plan guides management decisions and
identifies Refuge goals, long-range objectives, and strategies for
achieving

[[Page 66475]]

Refuge purposes. During the planning process, the planning team reviews
a wide range of Refuge administrative requirements, including
conservation of the Refuge's fish and wildlife populations and habitats
in their natural diversity; facilitation of subsistence use by local
residents and access for traditional recreational activities; and
conservation of resource values, including cultural resources,
wilderness, and wild rivers. The final revised Plan will detail the
programs, activities, and measures necessary to best administer the
Refuge to protect these values and to fulfill Refuge purposes. The
Comprehensive Conservation Plan and associated Environmental Impact
Statement will describe and evaluate a range of reasonable alternatives
and the anticipated impacts of each. Public input into the planning
process is essential.
    The Plan will provide other agencies and the public with
information to facilitate understanding of the desired conditions for
the Refuge and how the Service will implement management strategies.
    The Service will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement in
accordance with procedures for implementing the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321-4370d).
    The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge (417,533 acres) and the North
Creek (8,452 acres) and Pavlof (1,447,264 acres) units of the Alaska
Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge are located at the westernmost tip
of the Alaska Peninsula. The 1,008,697-acre Unimak Island (the
easternmost Aleutian Island of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife
Refuge) lies across the Isanotski Strait.
    To the north of the Izembek Refuge is the Bering Sea; to the south
is the Pacific Ocean. The Alaska Peninsula is dominated by the rugged
Aleutian Range, part of the Aleutian arc chain of volcanoes. Landforms
include mountains, active volcanoes, U-shaped valleys, glacial
moraines, low tundra wetlands, lakes, sand dunes, and lagoons.
Elevations range from sea level to the 9,372-foot Shishaldin Volcano.
Several major lagoons are within the Refuge boundary. These lagoons
contain some of the world's largest eelgrass beds. The lagoons are
under the jurisdiction of the State of Alaska. Izembek Lagoon is
designated the Izembek State Game Refuge. Birds from all over the
Arctic funnel through Izembek Refuge each fall on their way to
wintering grounds throughout the world. More than 98 percent of the
world's Pacific black brant use Izembek Lagoon as a staging area for
their fall migration to Mexico. Other birds that use the Refuge include
golden plovers, ruddy turnstones, western sandpipers, tundra swans,
Steller's eiders and emperor geese. The Refuge also is home to large
concentrations of brown bears and other large mammals such as caribou
and wolves. The red, pink, chum, and silver salmon that use the waters
within the refuge enrich the entire ecosystem with the nutrients they
bring from the sea. The Refuge also has a rich human history, from
ancient settlements of Alaska Natives, through the 18th and 19th
century Russian fur traders, to a World War II outpost.
    The Alaska National Interests Land Conservation Act of 1980,
Section 302(1) and 303(1 and 3) sets forth the following major purposes
for which the Izembek Refuge was established and is to be managed:

    [Izembek] To conserve fish and wildlife populations and habitats
in their natural diversity including, but not limited to, waterfowl,
shorebirds and other migratory birds, brown bears and salmonoids;
    [Alaska Peninsula] To conserve fish and wildlife populations and
habitats in their natural diversity including, but not limited to,
brown bears, the Alaska Peninsula caribou herd, moose, sea otters
and other marine mammals, shorebirds and other migratory birds,
raptors, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons, and salmonoid
and other fish;
    [Alaska Maritime] To conserve fish and wildlife populations and
habitats in their natural diversity, including, but not limited to,
marine mammals, marine birds and other migratory birds, the marine
resources upon which they rely, bears, caribou, and other mammals;
    To fulfill the international treaty obligations of the United
States with respect to fish and wildlife and their habitats;
    To provide, in a manner consistent with the purposes set forth
above, the opportunity for continued subsistence uses by local
residents; and
    To ensure, to the maximum extent practicable and in a manner
consistent with the purposes set forth above, water quality and
necessary water quantity within the Refuge; and
    [Alaska Maritime] To provide, in a manner consistent with the
purposes set forth above, a program of national and international
scientific research on marine resources.

    The Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Izembek National Wildlife
Refuge was completed in 1985. It is being revised consistent with
Section 304(g) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act,
the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, and U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service planning policy.

    Dated: November 7, 2003.
Rowan Gould,
Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska.
[FR Doc. 03-29304 Filed 11-25-03; 8:45 am]

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