Ozark Plateau National Wildlife Refuge invites the public to review and comment on a draft Compatibility Determination (CD) for experimental grazing by goats on the Mary and Murray Looney Unit (Looney Unit) in Delaware County, OK. The refuge proposes to investigate and evaluate for a maximum period of five years the use of targeted prescribed grazing by goats inside fenced areas on the Looney Unit to help suppress, control, and remove invasive plant species including sericea lespedeza Lespedeza cuneata, garlic mustard Alliaria petiolata, and non-native bamboo Phyllostachys spp. Experimental grazing will be a component of a habitat restoration project.
CDs are completed to ensure that refuge uses are appropriate and compatible with the mission of the Refuge system and the purposes of the refuge. This draft CD is being made available for a 30-day public review period and is available for public review and comment from February 9, 2023 until March 10, 2023.
Comments on the draft CD can be submitted via email to richard_stark@fws.gov or by mail in comments to Ozark Plateau National Wildlife Refuge at 9014 East 21st Street, Tulsa, OK 74129. In the subject line, please add: Ozark Plateau NWR Experimental Grazing CD comments. Concerns expressed during the public comment period will be addressed in the final.
