[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 8 (Thursday, January 12, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3800-3802]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00314]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R5-R-2016-N134; BAC-4333-99]
Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge, Poquoson, VA;
Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of a draft comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and
environmental assessment (EA) for Plum Tree Island National Wildlife
Refuge (NWR) for public review and comment. Plum Tree Island NWR is
located in Poquoson, Virginia, and is administered by staff at Eastern
Virginia Rivers NWR Complex based in Warsaw, Virginia. The draft CCP
and EA describes two alternatives for managing Plum Tree Island NWR for
the next 15 years. Alternative B is identified as the Service-preferred
alternative. Also available for public review and comment are the draft
compatibility determinations, which are included as appendix B in the
draft CCP and EA.
DATES: To ensure consideration of your written comments, please send
them by March 13, 2017. We will also hold public meetings. We will
announce those meetings and other opportunities for public input in
local news media, via our project mailing list, and on the refuge
planning Web site: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Plum_Tree_Island/what_we_do/conservation.html.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments or requests for copies or more
information by any of the following methods. You may request hard
copies or a CD-ROM of the documents.
Email: EasternVirginiaRiversNWRC@fws.gov. Please include ``Plum
Tree Island CCP'' in the subject line of the message.
U.S. Mail: Meghan Powell, Natural Resource Planner, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 1030, Warsaw, VA 22572.
Fax: Attention: Meghan Powell, 804-333-3396.
In-Person Drop-off, Viewing, or Pickup: Call Meghan Powell at 804-
313-7729, or Andy Hofmann, Refuge Manager, at 804-333-1470, extension
112, during regular business hours to make an appointment to view the
document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Meghan Powell, Natural Resource
[[Page 3801]]
Planner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; mailing address: 336 Wilna
Road, Warsaw, VA 22572; 804-313-7729 (phone); 804-333-3396 (fax);
EasternVirginiaRiversNWRC@fws.gov (email) (please put ``Plum Tree
Island NWR'' in the subject line).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
With this notice, we continue the CCP process for Plum Tree Island
NWR. We published our original notice of intent to prepare a CCP in the
Federal Register on January 10, 2012 (77 FR 1500).
The 3,502-acre Plum Tree Island NWR is located in the City of
Poquoson, Virginia. The refuge is approximately 7 miles north of
Hampton, Virginia. It was established in 1972 primarily to conserve and
protect migratory birds. It is one of many important migratory bird
stopover sites along the Atlantic Flyway and provides protected
breeding habitat for Federal- and State-listed threatened and
endangered species, as well as many neotropical migrant bird species.
The refuge is comprised of a variety of wildlife habitats, including
salt marsh, maritime shrubland and dune, sandy beaches and mudflats,
and estuarine habitats.
Prior to refuge establishment in 1972, the U.S. Air Force used
approximately 3,276 acres of the present-day refuge as a bombing and
gunnery range. Known as the Plum Tree Island Range, it was actively
used from 1917 until June 1971. The nature and extent of unexploded
ordnance and munitions constituents occurring within and adjacent to
the refuge have been characterized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers'
(USACE) Formerly Used Defense Site Program. A remedial action plan to
address human health and ecological risks of the Plum Tree Island Range
is currently being developed by the USACE.
The only public use that is currently allowed on the refuge is a
30-day waterfowl hunt on the refuge's 211-acre Cow Island tract, which
lies outside the former gunnery and bombing range.
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 national wildlife refuge. The purpose for
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 and
photography, and environmental education and interpretation. We will
review and update the CCP at least every 15 years, in accordance with
the Refuge Administration Act.
Public Outreach
In September 2012, we distributed a planning newsletter to over 410
parties on our project mailing list. The newsletter informed people
about the planning process and asked recipients to contact us about
issues or concerns they would like us to address. We also posted the
newsletter on our Web site for people to access electronically. In
addition, we notified the general public of our planning project, and
our interest in hearing about issues and concerns, by publishing news
releases in local newspapers. We also held an evening public scoping
meeting on September 13, 2012, in Poquoson, Virginia, and an afternoon
public scoping meeting on September 14, 2012, in Poquoson, Virginia.
The purpose of the two meetings was to share information on the
planning process and to solicit management issues and concerns.
Throughout the process, refuge staff has conducted additional outreach
via participation in community meetings, events, and other public
forums. We have considered and evaluated all of the comments we
received and addressed them in various ways in the alternatives
presented in the draft CCP and EA.
CCP Alternatives We Are Considering
Several issues were raised by us, other governmental partners, and
the public during the public scoping process. To address these issues,
we developed and evaluated two management alternatives in the draft CCP
and EA. A full description of each alternative is in the draft CCP and
EA. Both alternatives include measures to continue to share staff
across the Eastern Virginia Rivers NWR Complex, control invasive
species, protect cultural resources, distribute refuge revenue sharing
payments, support research on the refuge, and participate in
conservation and education partnerships.
There are other actions that differ among the alternatives. The
draft CCP and EA provides a full description of both alternatives and
relates each to the issues and concerns that arose during the planning
process. Below, we provide summaries for the two alternatives.
Alternative A (Current Management)
This alternative is the ``no action'' alternative required by the
National Environmental Policy Act. Alternative A defines our current
management activities, including those planned, funded, or underway,
and serves as the baseline against which to compare alternative B.
Under alternative A, we would continue to protect the refuge's wildlife
habitats by allowing natural processes to occur unimpeded. Our refuge
management efforts would continue to focus on minimizing human-caused
disturbance of refuge habitats and wildlife, conducting annual
northeastern beach tiger beetle surveys (a federally threatened
species), performing visual surveys of shoreline changes, and
administering the waterfowl hunt while on the refuge. While off the
refuge, our staff would continue to focus on interagency coordination
to assess and evaluate hazards posed by the former bombing range.
Refuge staff has also participated in community programs and events to
promote understanding and appreciation for the purpose of the refuge
and the mission of the Service. The refuge's limited waterfowl hunt on
Cow Island would continue to be the only public use permitted on the
refuge.
Alternative B (Increased Ecosystem Monitoring, Partnerships, and Public
Use; Service-Preferred Alternative)
Alternative B is the Service-preferred alternative. It combines the
actions we believe would best achieve the refuge's purposes, vision,
and goals and respond to public issues. Under alternative B, we would
continue to protect the refuge's wildlife habitats by allowing natural
processes to occur unimpeded. Our refuge management efforts would
continue to focus on minimizing human-caused disturbance of refuge
habitats and wildlife, while working with a greater diversity of
partners to conduct biological research, inventory, and monitoring
efforts. We are primarily interested in learning more about the
presence and sustainability of priority wildlife species through
inventories and the monitoring of climate change impacts and changes in
habitat conditions over the life of the plan. Collecting this
information would serve as the basis for future refuge management
actions in the next CCP.
Under alternative B, we would evaluate opportunities to enhance and
expand the waterfowl hunt program on Cow Island, with an emphasis on
increasing adult and youth
[[Page 3802]]
participation. Alternative B would also expand wildlife-dependent
recreation on Cow Island by opening one designated location to
recreational and commercial wildlife observation, photography,
environmental education, and interpretation of natural and cultural
resources. Access by canoe and kayak would complement the City of
Poquoson's Blueway Trail surrounding the refuge. In partnership with
other government agencies and adjacent landowners, we would investigate
the potential to establish viewing platforms on the mainland
overlooking the refuge.
Next Steps
After this comment period ends, we will analyze the comments and
address them in the form of a final CCP and, if appropriate, finding of
no significant impact.
Public Availability of Documents
In addition to any methods in ADDRESSES, you can view or obtain
documents from the agency Web site at: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Plum_Tree_Island/what_we_do/conservation.html.
Submitting Comments
We consider comments substantive if they:
Question, with reasonable basis, the accuracy of the
information in the document.
Question, with reasonable basis, the adequacy of the EA.
Present reasonable alternatives other than those presented
in the EA.
Provide new or additional information relevant to the EA.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comments, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Dated: November 3, 2016.
Deborah Rocque,
Acting Regional Director, Northeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2017-00314 Filed 1-11-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P