The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today published draft environmental assessments for hunting plans at four national wildlife refuges in the Mountain-Prairie Region: Marais de Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge in Kansas, Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge in Montana, and Crescent Lake and North Platte National Wildlife Refuges in Nebraska.
The draft environmental assessments do not propose any significant changes in how the Service conducts hunts on any of these four refuges, and the Service intends to continue the hunting programs on these refuges in a manner consistent with previous year's hunts.
The Service welcomes public review and comment on four of the draft environmental assessments. To obtain a copy, please contact:
Wayne King
National Wildlife Refuge System
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
POB 25486-DFC
Denver, CO 80225
The drafts are also available electronically at: mountain-prairie.fws.gov/refuges/huntplanea
The deadline for comments on the drafts is April 11, 2007. The Service anticipates publishing final environmental assessments for the hunting programs at these four refuges later this year.
The Service drafted the environmental assessments in response to earlier litigation brought by the Fund for Animals alleging that the Service failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act when it established hunting programs at 37 refuges across the nation without considering the cumulative effects of hunting on wildlife populations.
As a result, the 37 refuges named in the lawsuit will revise or complete new cumulative impact analyses. In addition, 30 other refuges that have opened, expanded, or proposed new or expanded hunting programs since the 2002-2003 hunting season will also undertake the more thorough cumulative impact analyses. The same documentation will be completed for seven other refuges where the opening of hunting programs was proposed for the 2006-2007 season. In total, the Service will revise or complete new environmental assessments incorporating cumulative impacts analyses for 74 refuge hunting programs by May 31, 2007.
