[Federal Register: June 21, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 118)]
[Notices]
[Page 35080-35081]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21jn10-110]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R4-R-2009-N165; 40136-1265-0000-S3]
Tampa Bay Refuges, FL
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability: final comprehensive conservation plan
and finding of no significant impact.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of our final comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and
finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for the environmental
assessment for Egmont Key, Pinellas, and Passage Key National Wildlife
Refuges. These three refuges, known as the Tampa Bay Refuges, are
managed as part of the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge (NWR)
Complex. In the final CCP, we describe how we will manage these refuges
for the next 15 years.
ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the CCP by writing to: Mr. Michael
Lusk, Refuge Manager, 1502 S.E. Kings Bay Drive, Crystal River, FL
34429. You may also access and download the document from the Service's
Web site: http://southeast.fws.gov/planning.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Michael Lusk; telephone: 727/570-
5417; e-mail: michael_lusk@fws.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
With this notice, we finalize the CCP process for the Tampa Bay
Refuges. We started this process through a notice in the Federal
Register on December 3, 2004 (69 FR 70276). For more about the process,
please see that notice.
Egmont Key NWR includes 392 acres and was established in 1974 to
protect the Key's significant natural, historical, and cultural
resources from the impending threats of development. Of the three Tampa
Bay Refuges, it is the only refuge island open to the public and has
been traditionally visited for many years as a primary recreation
destination. Egmont Key NWR seeks to provide nesting habitat for brown
pelicans and other waterbirds, as well as to conserve and protect
barrier island habitat and to preserve historical structures of
national significance (i.e., historic lighthouse, guardhouse, gun
batteries, and brick roads). Presently, the island's approximately 244
acres of beach and coastal berm support more than 110 species of
nesting, migrating, and wintering birds. The island is designated as
critical habitat for endangered piping plovers and provides habitat and
protection for endangered manatees and sea turtles. Egmont Key NWR has
an unusually high population of gopher tortoises and box turtles. Two
wildlife sanctuaries, one on the east side of the island and one at the
south end of the island, comprise about 97 acres and are closed to
public use. Cooperative management agreements between the Service, the
U.S. Coast Guard, and the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection entrust daily management activities of Egmont Key NWR to the
Florida Park Service, which manages the island to protect and restore
the historic structures and for swimming, sunbathing, shelling, and
picnicking.
Pinellas NWR was established in 1951 as a breeding ground for
colonial bird species. It contains 7 mangrove islands encompassing
about 394 acres. The refuge is comprised of Little Bird, Mule, Jackass,
Listen, and Whale Island Keys and leases Tarpon and Indian Keys from
Pinellas County. A Pinellas County seagrass sanctuary is located around
Tarpon and Indian Keys, and the use of internal combustion engines
within this zone is prohibited to protect the seagrass beds. Hundreds
of brown pelicans and double-crested cormorants and dozens of herons,
egrets, and roseate spoonbills nest within Tarpon and Little Bird Keys.
Pinellas NWR provides important mangrove habitat for most long-legged
wading species, especially the reddish egret. All of the mangrove
islands of Pinellas NWR are closed to all public use year-round to
protect the migratory birds.
Passage Key NWR was originally designated as a Federal bird
reservation by President Roosevelt in 1905, when it consisted of a 60-
acre island with a freshwater lake and lush vegetation. However,
erosion and hurricanes have virtually destroyed the key, and it is now
a meandering sand bar varying in size from 0.5 to 10 acres, depending
on weather. In 1970, Passage Key NWR was designated a Wilderness Area.
The refuge's objective is to provide habitat for colonial waterbirds.
Hundreds of brown pelicans, laughing gulls, black skimmers, and royal
terns, and small numbers of herons and egrets, nested annually until
the island was destroyed by a hurricane in 2005. The key once hosted
the largest royal tern and
[[Page 35081]]
sandwich tern nesting colonies in the State of Florida. Because of its
fragility, small size, and to protect the migratory birds that use the
island, it is now closed to all public use year-round.
We announce our decision and the availability of the final CCP and
FONSI for the Tampa Bay Refuges in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) [40 CFR 1506.6(b)] requirements. We
completed a thorough analysis of impacts on the human environment,
which we included in the Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and
Environmental Assessment (Draft CCP/EA). The CCP will guide us in
managing and administering the Tampa Bay Refuges for the next 15 years.
Alternative B is the foundation for the CCP.
The compatibility determinations for beach uses, bicycling,
boating, camping, competitive sporting events, concessions, geocaching,
hiking/walking, military uses, mosquito management, picnicking,
photography/video/filming/audio recording, research and surveys,
snorkeling and SCUBA diving, and wildlife observation and photography
are available in the CCP.
Background
The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16
U.S.C. 668dd-668ee) (Administration Act), as amended by the National
Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, requires us to develop
a CCP for each national wildlife refuge. The purpose in developing a
CCP is to provide refuge managers with a 15-year plan for achieving
refuge purposes and contributing toward the mission of the National
Wildlife Refuge System, 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, wildlife photography, and
environmental education and interpretation. We will review and update
the CCP at least every 15 years in accordance with the Administration
Act.
Comments
Copies of the Draft CCP/EA for the Tampa Bay Refuges were made
available for a 30-day public review and comment period as announced in
the Federal Register on April 24, 2009 (74 FR 18744). We held two
meetings to present the Draft CCP/EA to the public and to solicit
comments. Approximately 57 persons attended the two meetings. A total
of 23 comment letters was received by mail or e-mail from 12 persons
and 8 organizations. All comments were considered and thoroughly
evaluated. Responses to the comments are contained in Appendix D of the
CCP.
Selected Alternative
After considering the comments we received and based on the
professional judgment of the planning team, we selected Alternative B
for implementation. Under Alternative B, we will continue the
cooperative agreement with the State to manage Egmont Key NWR and will
establish monthly communications and quarterly meetings to better
coordinate our efforts. A visitors center will be established at the
Egmont Key NWR Guardhouse, and interpretive signs and information
distribution will be increased. Our primary mission will continue to be
providing habitat and protection for wildlife. We will assume more of a
leadership role in coordinating, directing, and conducting bird and
other wildlife surveys; monitoring and conducting research on gopher
tortoises; and identifying, mapping, and protecting State-listed plant
species with partners.
Authority
This notice is published under the authority of the National
Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, Public Law 105-57.
Dated: August 24, 2009.
Patrick Leonard,
Acting Regional Director.
Editorial Note: This document was received in the Office of the
Federal Register on June 16, 2010.
[FR Doc. 2010-14876 Filed 6-18-10; 8:45 am]
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