[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 44 (Monday, March 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12365-12367]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-4043]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R5-R-2010-N269; BAC-4311-K9-S3]
Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Tucker and Grant
Counties, WV; Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Finding of No
Significant Impact for Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of the final comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and
finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for the environmental
assessment (EA) for Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). In
this final CCP, we describe how we will manage this refuge for the next
15 years.
ADDRESSES: You may view or obtain copies of the final CCP and FONSI by
any of the following methods. You may request a hard copy or a CD-ROM.
Agency Web site: Download a copy of the document(s) at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/planning/Canaan%20Valley/ccphome.html.
E- mail: Send document requests to northeastplanning@fws.gov.
Include ``Canaan Valley NWR CCP'' in the subject line of your e-mail.
U.S. Postal Service: Send document requests to Ken Sturm, Acting
Refuge Manager, Canaan Valley NWR, 6263 Appalachian Highway, Davis, WV
26260-8061.
Fax: Attention: Ken Sturm, 304-866-3852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken Sturm, Acting Refuge Manager,
Canaan Valley NWR, 6263 Appalachian Highway, Davis, WV 26260-8061;
phone: 304-866-3858; electronic mail: ken_sturm@fws.gov.
[[Page 12366]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
With this notice, we finalize the CCP process for Canaan Valley
NWR. We started this plan's development through a notice in the Federal
Register (72 FR 2709) on January 22, 2007. We released the draft CCP/EA
to the public, announcing and requesting comments in a notice of
availability in the Federal Register (75 FR 30423) on June 1, 2010.
The 16,193-acre Canaan Valley NWR was established in 1994 to
conserve and protect fish and wildlife resources and the unique wetland
and upland habitats of this high-elevation valley. The refuge is
located in Tucker County, WV, and has an approved acquisition boundary
of 24,000 acres. It includes the largest wetland complex in the State,
and encompasses the headwaters of the Blackwater and Little Blackwater
Rivers. The refuge supports species of concern at both the Federal and
State levels, including the West Virginia northern flying squirrel,
bald eagle, and the Federally listed Cheat Mountain salamander and
Indiana bat. Its dominant habitats include wet meadows, peatlands,
shrub and forested swamps, beaver ponds and streams, northern hardwood
forest, old fields and shrubland, and managed grassland.
Refuge visitors engage in wildlife observation and photography,
environmental education, interpretation, hunting, and fishing.
Management activities include maintaining and perpetuating the
ecological integrity of the Canaan Valley wetland complex, perpetuating
the ecological integrity of upland northern hardwood and northern
hardwood-conifer forests to sustain wildlife and plant communities,
providing a diversity of successional habitats in upland and wetland-
edge shrublands, grasslands, old fields, and hardwood communities, and
supporting wildlife-dependent recreation and education.
We announce our decision and the availability of the FONSI for the
final CCP for Canaan Valley NWR in accordance with National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (40 CFR 1506.6(b)) requirements. We
completed a thorough analysis of impacts on the human environment,
which we included in the draft CCP/EA.
The CCP will guide us in managing and administering Canaan Valley
NWR for the next 15 years. Alternative B, as we described in the draft
CCP/EA, is the foundation for the final CCP.
Background
The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16
U.S.C. 668dd-668ee) (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 Administration
Act.
CCP Alternatives, Including the Selected Alternative
Our draft CCP/EA (75 FR 30423) addressed several key issues,
including the improvement of early successional habitat, the creation
of trail connections on- and off-refuge, and the need for better hunter
access.
To address these issues and develop a plan based on the purposes
for establishing the refuge, and the vision and goals we identified,
four alternatives were evaluated in the EA. The alternatives have some
actions in common, such as protecting cultural resources, controlling
invasive plant species, encouraging research that benefits our resource
decisions, continuing to acquire land from willing sellers within our
approved refuge boundary, and distributing refuge revenue-sharing
payments to counties.
Other actions distinguish the alternatives. Alternative A, or the
``No Action Alternative,'' is defined by our current management
activities. It serves as the baseline against which to compare the
other three alternatives. Our habitat management and visitor services
programs would not change under this alternative. We would continue to
use the same tools and techniques, and not expand existing facilities.
Alternative B, the ``Service-Preferred Alternative,'' is designed
to balance the conservation of a mixed-forest matrix landscape with the
management of early successional habitats and the protection of
wetlands. The habitat-type objectives in the plan identify focal
species whose life and growth requirements would guide management
activities in each respective habitat. We would facilitate the removal
of more deer from the refuge by increasing access and opening more
lands to rifle hunting, and we would officially open the refuge to
fishing. We would create more trail connections, expand visitor center
hours, build a new environmental education pavilion, and increase the
number of environmental education and interpretation programs.
In Alternative C, we would increase access and infrastructure to
support more priority public uses than any of the other alternatives.
We would create a cross-valley trail that would run east-west through
the northern part of the valley, and we would allow limited off-trail
use in a designated area. With an increase in public access and
infrastructure development, we anticipate a greater need for monitoring
and control of invasive plants. We would also encourage additional
research that would assess whether increased public use affects
wildlife behavior, including nesting, feeding, and resting. Within the
biological objectives, differences between this alternative and the
others are more subtle, but generally emphasize early successional
habitat management over forest stand improvement.
Alternative D strives to establish and maintain the ecological
integrity of natural communities within the refuge. Management would
range from passive, or ``letting nature take its course,'' to actively
manipulating vegetation to create or hasten the development of mature
forest structural conditions shaped by natural disturbances such as
infrequent fires, ice storms, and small patch blow-downs. Under this
alternative, no particular wildlife species would be a management
focus. We would promote research and development of applied management
practices to sustain and enhance the natural composition, patterns, and
processes within their natural range in the Central Appalachian Forest.
We would limit new visitor services infrastructure to already disturbed
areas. We would enhance hunting and fishing opportunities in ways
similar to Alternatives B and C.
Comments
We solicited comments on the draft CCP/EA for Canaan Valley NWR
from June 1, 2010, to July 16, 2010 (75 FR 30423). During the comment
period, we received 312 responses, both oral and written. All comments
we received were evaluated. A summary of those comments and our
responses to them is included as Appendix J in the CCP.
[[Page 12367]]
Selected Alternative
After considering the comments we received on our draft CCP/EA, we
have selected Alternative B for implementation, for several reasons.
Alternative B comprises the mix of actions that, in our professional
judgment, works best towards achieving refuge purposes, our vision and
goals, and the goals of other State and regional conservation plans. We
also believe it most effectively addresses the key issues raised during
the planning process. The basis of our decision is detailed in the
FONSI, located in Appendix K of the CCP.
Public Availability of Documents
You can view or obtain documents as indicated under ADDRESSES.
Dated: January 19, 2011.
Wendi Weber,
Acting Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-4043 Filed 3-7-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P