The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has announced that it will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Little Darby National Wildlife Refuge, near Columbus, Ohio. The proposed refuge would restore and preserve habitat and wildlife within the Little Darby Creek Watershed, a unique warm water sub-watershed of the larger Darby Creek watershed.
The Service began studying the potential for a national wildlife refuge national wildlife refuge
A national wildlife refuge is typically a contiguous area of land and water managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the conservation and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.
Learn more about national wildlife refuge in west central Ohio in 1997. The planning process initially included the preparation of a draft Environmental Assessment, which was completed in November 1999. The Service decided last week that based upon strong public and governmental interest in the project, both supportive and non-supportive, additional environmental documentation would allow a more thorough evaluation of the issues and opportunities associated with the proposal.
With the commencement of the Environmental Impact Statement, the Service will build upon the findings of the Environmental Assessment, review existing issues and consider new ones that are developed in conjunction with input from the public during the scoping process. Also, like the Environmental Assessment, the refuge proposal will be based on voluntary sale of land only. The Service has never considered condemnation as part of the refuge proposal and will not consider condemning land, or eminent domain, as an alternative in the Environmental Impact Statement.
The dates and schedule of the public scoping meetings are:
June 19 - (6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.) at the Made From Scratch Conference Center, 7500 Montgomery Dr., Plain City, OH; and
June 20 - (6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.) at the Della Selsor Building located on the Madison County Fairgrounds.
According to the schedule proposed for the Environmental Impact Statement, the draft Environmental Impact Statement will be released this summer.
An Environmental Assessment is an environmental document that discusses the purpose and need for the proposed action, alternatives to that action, and enough documentation to determine whether an Environmental Impact Statement is required or whether a Finding of No Significant Impact can be issued. An Environmental Impact Statement is a more formal process that analyzes the environmental impacts of a proposed action, the adverse effects of the project, and alternative courses of action. Both documents comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
An Environmental Impact Statement will give the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service additional opportunity to work with more people who are interested in this project, according to Bill Hegge, the Services project manager for the proposed refuge. Weve had a very extensive public involvement effort since the project began, and we remain committed to an inclusive process that fleshes out all of the possible issues associated with a refuge.
Comments received on the draft Environmental Assessment will be made available to libraries in the project area both in recognition of public interest in the project and the Services commitment to an open process that includes a wide range of opinion. The comments will also be available from the Region 3 Planning web site at: http://www.fws.gov/r3pao/planning/top.htm
Historically, the Darby Creek Watershed encompassed one of the easternmost wetland, tallgrass prairie, oak savanna ecosystems in the United States. The once abundant diversity of plants and wildlife contained in these ecosystems has been reduced to small populations in scattered remnants of habitat. The proposed refuge will focus on restoring natural plant communities within the watershed, complementing and enhancing the existing diverse aquatic system, provide wetland habitat for waterfowl and marsh birds, and provide grassland areas for declining populations of songbirds.
