The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is seeking assistance from the public in developing a Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (CCP/EIS) to guide future management of the Hanford Reach National Monument in eastern Washington. The CCP/EIS will determine a long-range management vision for the Monument including resource protection and management strategies, appropriate recreational uses, support facilities and programs.
The Service will hold an open house and a series of public meetings to collect public comments on issues, concerns and opportunities for future management of the Monument. The open house is scheduled for August 14, 2002, in Richland, Washington, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Monument office, 3250 Port of Benton Boulevard. The public is invited to meet the Monument staff and receive information on the Monument and the planning process.
Public meetings are scheduled as follows:
dir=ltr 0pxAugust 28: Wahluke High School
502 N. Boundary
Mattawa, WA, 6-9 pm
17001 Pacific Hwy South
Seattle, WA, 6-9pmSeptember 9: Consolidated Information Center - WSU Tri-Cities
2770 University Dr.
Richland, WA, 4-9pmSeptember 17: Yakima Convention Center
10 N. 8th St.
Yakima, Wa, 6-9 pm
The agency will accept public comments until October 12, 2002, on the scope of issues that should be addressed in the CCP/EIS.
The Monument was designated by Presidential Proclamation on June 9, 2000. It consists of a ring of land bordering the Department Of Energy (DOE) central Hanford site, including a 46-mile stretch of the Columbia River known as the Hanford Reach. The Monument protects some of the most pristine shrub-steppe ecosystem remaining in the Columbia Basin. Preserved within the sagebrush sagebrush
The western United States’ sagebrush country encompasses over 175 million acres of public and private lands. The sagebrush landscape provides many benefits to our rural economies and communities, and it serves as crucial habitat for a diversity of wildlife, including the iconic greater sage-grouse and over 350 other species.
Learn more about sagebrush and grassland habitats are a host of forbs, grasses, wetland and riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian plants; a fragile microbiotic crust; and a variety of wildlife, including mule deer, elk, beaver, coyote, and upland birds. In addition to these resident species, habitat also is provided for migratory species, including many song birds, bald eagles, American white pelicans, Chinook salmon, and other raptors, waterfowl, and fish. Popular recreational activities include boating, hunting, hiking, wildlife observation and horseback riding. Unique attractions include seasonal opportunities for solitude, scenic vistas, recreational fishing, and a historic and cultural legacy associated with Native American habitation, post-European exploration, and plutonium production for atomic weapons associated with the Manhattan Project.
The Service and DOE are co-stewards of the Monument. Of the 195,000-acre Monument, the Service manages 165,000 acres, the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife administers 800 acres through a DOE permit, and the remaining acreage is administered by the DOE which has primary ownership or control on all acreage. The Service-managed acreage is part of the National Wildlife Refuge System under permits and agreements with the DOE. All lands within the Refuge System must be in compliance with an approved CCP. The Service is the lead agency for planning and management of the Monument and development of the CCP/EIS subject to review and approval by the DOE.
During the planning process, the Service will consult with tribal governments and work with government agencies invited as Cooperating Agencies. In addition, a Federal Planning Advisory Committee was formed to provide recommendations on the CCP/EIS. Thirteen members were appointed to the Advisory Committee by the Secretary of the Interior to represent the Monument
