[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 213 (Friday, November 3, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55852-55853]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-27195]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service


Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement on 
the Establishment of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife 
Refuge Within the Four-State Connecticut River Watershed of New England

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Final Environmental 
Impact Statement (FEIS) on establishing the Silvio O. Conte National 
Fish and Wildlife Refuge (refuge) in the Connecticut River watershed of 
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire is available. The 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposes to work with private 
landowners, state or local agencies and private organizations through 
the existing Partners for Wildlife and Challenge Cost Share Programs. 
The Service's major thrust through the year 2010 would focus on the use 
of 

[[Page 55853]]
voluntary efforts, developing partnerships, providing technical 
assistance, and administering a cost-sharing grants program to help 
other conservation interests carry out their land protection programs. 
The Service would also initiate its own land protection program--using 
a combination of easements, cooperative management agreement and fee 
title acquisition--with emphasis on endangered, threatened, rare and 
uncommon species and communities. Educational efforts would be carried 
out in cooperation with the watershed's many environmental education 
providers. This proposal would result in the establishment of a special 
watershed-wide cooperative management and education program. This 
notice is being furnished pursuant to the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA) regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508).

DATES: A Record of Decision can be approved after December 4, 1995.

ADDRESSES: A limited number of copies of either the complete FEIS, or a 
summary of the FEIS, are available upon request from Larry Bandolin, 
Project Leader, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 38 Avenue A, Turners 
Falls, Massachusetts 01376.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Larry Bandolin, Project Leader, Telephone (413) 863-0209 or Fax (413) 
863-3070.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FEIS was prepared to fulfill the 
requirements of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge 
Act of 1991 (Act), Section 105. The Act's long-term purposes for 
establishing a new refuge in the Connecticut River watershed are to: 
(1) Conserve, protect, and enhance the Connecticut River watershed 
populations of Atlantic salmon, American shad, river herring, shortnose 
sturgeon, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, osprey, black ducks, and 
other native species of plants, fish, and wildlife; (2) conserve, 
protect, and enhance the natural diversity and abundance of plant, 
fish, and wildlife species and the ecosystems upon which these species 
depend within the refuge; (3) protect species listed as endangered or 
threatened, or identified as candidates for listing, pursuant to the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended; (4) restore and maintain 
the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of wetlands and other 
waters within the refuge; (5) fulfill the international treaty 
obligations of the United States relating to fish and wildlife and 
wetlands; and (6) provide opportunities for scientific research, 
environmental education, and fish and wildlife-oriented recreation and 
access to the extent compatible with the other purposes stated in this 
section. The FEIS describes five alternative ways to fulfill these 
purposes. It also discusses the process used to develop them and the 
environmental consequences of implementing each one. The first 
alternative (No Action) would involve no new conservation efforts in 
the watershed on the part of the Service. A second alternative (Private 
Lands Work and Education) relies on the voluntary restoration and 
enhancement of private lands through the Service's Partners for 
Wildlife Program. A third alternative (Private Lands Work, Education 
and Partnerships) relies on the voluntary restoration and enhancement 
of private lands, developing partnerships, providing technical 
assistance and establishing a cost-sharing grants program--through the 
Service's Challenge Cost Share Program--to help other conservation 
interests carry out their land protection programs. A fourth 
alternative (Private Lands Work, Education, Partnerships and Land 
Protection--The Service's Revised Proposed Action) is similar to the 
third alternative, except that the Service would also acquire lands to 
protect threatened or endangered, rare and uncommon species and 
communities. Under the fifth alternative (Private Lands Work, Education 
and Land Protection) the Service would establish a more traditional 
national fish and wildlife refuge. All issues an concerns identified by 
the public during scoping were considered and the most significant 
analyzed in detail. The potential effects of each alternative on 
agriculture and forestry, biological resources, local economies, 
environmental education, public use and access, and water use and 
quality are also described.
    During the public review and comment period on the Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), a series of afternoon walk-in 
informational sessions and evening public meetings and hearings were 
held in 16 different locations throughout the four-state Connecticut 
River watershed. Meetings were held in four locations in Massachusetts; 
four in Connecticut; four in Vermont; and four in New Hampshire in 
June, 1995. During the public review and comment period the Service 
received 348 written comments and seven petitions containing 897 
signatures. Over 290 people attended the afternoon walk-in sessions and 
over 700 attended the evening public meetings and hearings, including 
94 who testified. All comments received, both written and verbal, were 
taken into consideration during the preparation of the FEIS--to make 
corrections or revisions--and have become part of the official record 
for the project. The FEIS contains the Service's responses to comments 
made by 150 federal or state agencies, private organizations and 
individuals. Copies of the FEIS have been sent to all agencies and 
individuals who commented on the DEIS and to all others who have 
already requested copies, as well as all libraries within the 
watershed. A summary of the FEIS has been sent to all other 
organizations and individuals on the project mailing list.
Cathleen I. Short,
Acting Regional Director, Region 5, Hadley, Massachusetts.
[FR Doc. 95-27195 Filed 11-2-95; 8:45 am]
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