[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 15, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3026-3027]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-00658]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R6-R-2012-N232; FF06R06000-FXRS1265066CCP0S2-123]
Establishment of Swan Valley Conservation Area, Montana
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (Service) has established the Swan Valley Conservation Area as
a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Service established
the Swan Valley Conservation Area on August 6, 2012, with the donation
of an 80-acre conservation easement in Missoula County, Montana.
ADDRESSES: A map depicting the approved Refuge boundary and other
information regarding the Refuge is available on the Internet at http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/planning/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Toni Griffin, Planning Team Leader,
Division of Refuge Planning, USFWS, P.O. Box 25486, DFC, Denver, CO
80225. http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/planning/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Service has established the Swan Valley
Conservation Area in western Montana, including portions of Lake and
Missoula Counties. The Service will conserve wildlife resources in the
conservation area, primarily through the purchase of perpetual
easements and a limited amount of fee-title from willing sellers. These
easements will connect and expand existing lands under conservation
protection. Fee-title purchases will be restricted to lands immediately
adjacent to Swan River National Wildlife Refuge.
The project will help ensure the perpetual conservation of one of
the last undeveloped, low-elevation coniferous forest ecosystems in
western Montana, in the greater Crown of the Continent ecosystem. Based
on anticipated levels of landowner participation, objectives for the
conservation area are to protect 10,000 acres of wildlife habitat
through conservation easements and another 1,000 acres through fee-
title around the
[[Page 3027]]
existing Swan River National Wildlife Refuge. The conservation area is
a component of the broader landscape-scale Crown of the Continent
initiative to ensure the continued function of one of the only
ecosystems in the United States which still contains essentially the
full suite of species that were present during the Lewis and Clark
expedition. The prioritization for land protection will incorporate the
elements of strategic habitat conservation (SHC) to ensure effective
conservation. SHC entails strategic biological planning and
conservation design, integrated conservation delivery, monitoring, and
research at ecoregional scales.
This conservation area allows the Service to purchase conservation
easements using the acquisition authority of the Fish and Wildlife Act
of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742a-j) and the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of
1929 (16 U.S.C. 715-715d, 715e, 715f-r). The Federal money used to
acquire conservation easements is from the Land and Water Conservation
Fund Act of 1965, as amended (16 U.S.C. 460l-4 through 11; funds
received under this act are derived primarily from oil and gas leases
on the Outer Continental Shelf, motorboat fuel taxes, and the sale of
surplus Federal property), and the sale of Federal Duck Stamps
[Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act (16 U.S.C. 718-718j,
48 Stat. 452)]. Additional funding to acquire lands, water, or
interests for fish and wildlife conservation purposes could be
identified by Congress or donated by nonprofit organizations. The
purchase of easements or fee title from willing sellers will be subject
to available money.
The Service has involved the public, agencies, partners, and
legislators throughout the planning process for the easement program.
At the beginning of the planning process, the Service initiated public
involvement for the proposal to protect habitats primarily through
acquisition of wetland and grassland conservation easements for
management as part of the Refuge System. The Service spent time
discussing the proposed project with landowners; conservation
organizations; Federal, State, and county governments; tribes; and
other interested groups and individuals. Open house meetings were held
on May 18 and June 2, 2010, in Condon, Montana. These meetings were
announced in local and regional media.
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(42 U.S.C. 4321), the Service prepared an environmental assessment (EA)
that evaluated two alternatives and their potential impacts on the
project area. The Service released the draft environmental assessment
(EA) and LPP on July 26, 2010, for a 30-day public review period. The
draft documents were made available to Federal elected officials and
agencies, State elected officials and agencies, Native American tribes
with aboriginal or tribal interests, local media, and other members of
the public that were identified during the scoping process. The Service
received six written comments from agencies, organizations, and members
of the public. After all comments were received, they were reviewed,
added to the administrative record, and, if substantial, incorporated
into the environmental assessment (EA).
Based on the documentation contained in the environmental
assessment (EA), a Finding of No Significant Impact was signed on
September 24, 2010, for the authorization of the Swan Valley
Conservation Area.
Dated: August 24, 2012.
Steve Guertin,
Regional Director, Mountain-Prairie Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-00658 Filed 1-14-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P