[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 21 (Wednesday, January 31, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3456-3457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-1872]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Acquisition of Lands for the Northern Tallgrass Prairie Habitat 
Preservation Area as a Unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System in 
Western Minnesota and Northwestern Iowa

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service (Service) intends to gather information necessary to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the acquisition of lands for 
the Northern Tallgrass Prairie Habitat Preservation Area in Minnesota 
and Iowa. Public meetings will be held with dates, times, and locations 
published through the local media in advance.
    This notice is being furnished as required by the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Regulations (40 CFR 1501.7) to obtain 
suggestions and information on the scope of issues to be addressed in 
the EIS from other agencies, organizations and the general public. 
Comments and participation in this scoping process are hereby 
requested.

DATES: Written comments should be received by March 18, 1996. Public 
meetings will be held at widely scattered locations throughout the area 
of consideration in Minnesota and Iowa. Meeting dates are to be 
determined for February and March 1996 and will be announced through 
the media.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Howard A. Lipke, Project Manager, 
Northern Tallgrass Prairie Project, c/o Hamden Slough National Wildlife 
Refuge, Route 1 Box 32, Audubon, MN 56511; Telephone 218/439-6319.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Service proposes to permanently protect 
77,000 acres, more or less, of native prairie lands and buffer lands at 
widespread locations in western Minnesota and northwestern Iowa for 
management as a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The 
project area encompasses 48 counties of Minnesota and 37 counties of 
Iowa from the Canadian border to near Des Moines, Iowa. Land would be 
acquired from willing sellers through fee title, easement, lease, or 
other property management rights transfer arrangements. The project 
would involve less than one percent of the presettlement prairie 
uplands with associated wetlands within this 150 mile wide by 520 mile 
long area even if the entire remaining prairie acreage were to be 
acquired.

Purpose of Action

    The purpose of the proposed action is to help achieve resource 
responsibilities, as stated in the Service's mission statement, through 
conserving, protecting and enhancing Minnesota and Iowa tallgrass 
prairie lands for the benefit of fish, wildlife, and their habitats and 
to provide for compatible public use.

Need for Action

    The action is proposed to meet Service stewardship mandates and 
trust responsibilities for threatened and endangered species, migratory 
birds and interjurisdictional fish. A fourth trust responsibility, 
Service-owned lands, would be enhanced as project lands complement and 
buffer existing refuge and Waterfowl Production Area lands. Conversion 
to cropland and grazing land, drainage, and other development has 
resulted in the loss of more than 99 percent of the 25 million acres of 
original tallgrass prairie. Today, only 320,000 acres remain in 
Minnesota and Iowa, much of it in a degraded condition. Consequently, 
native fish, wildlife and vegetative resources dependent upon the 
prairie and associated wetlands have declined dramatically. Acquisition 
of land or other property rights along with habitat restoration would 
benefit a diversity of fish and wildlife resources, including native 
lake and river fishes; mammals; birds such as waterfowl, shorebirds, 
and passerine birds; and would help in the recovery of Federally-listed 
threatened and endangered species.

Related Actions of Other Agencies

    Acquisition of lands and interests therein under existing Service 
authorities would complement other prairie land acquisition being done 
within this northern region of the tallgrass prairie by the Minnesota 
Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 
Iowa County Conservation Boards, and The Nature Conservancy. Dependent 
upon respective agency and organization missions and goals, each effort 
is made to conserve remnants of the native prairie to save a part of 
the natural and cultural heritage of this once vast prairie area. Some 
efforts conserve, restore and enhance prairie wildlife and plant 
communities for compatible public enjoyment and educational uses.

Alternatives

    Alternatives for the Service to pursue protecting and enhancing the 
Tallgrass Prairie ecosystem to benefit fish and wildlife and their 
habitats include: (1) Acquiring appropriate ownership interest to 
prairie lands and managing those lands as Northern Tallgrass Prairie 
Habitat Preservation Area--a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge 
System, (2) non-acquisition methods, such as private lands initiatives 
or providing public information to landowners, (3) non-acquisition by 
the Service, promoting other agency and organization acquisition, and 
(4) no action.
    These alternatives, along with others identified during the scoping 
process, may or may not be examined in detail in the EIS.

Issue

    The following would likely be issues under the Service's proposed 
action: (1) Land use: Cultivated cropland uses would mostly cease. 
Grazing and haying agricultural uses would be restricted. Gravel mining 
would not occur. Prairie with associated riparian and wetland habitat, 
and areas available for outdoor recreation, would increase. Acquired 
lands would no longer be available to others for purchase. New or 
expanded transportation, drainage and utility systems across project 
land could be authorized through Service issuance of right-of-way 
permits. (2) Fish and wildlife: Prairie-dependent wildlife need 
important plants and plant communities preserved as unique habitats, 
assuring their continued existence. Numbers and diversity of fish and 
wildlife including Federally-listed threatened and endangered species 
would increase. Likelihood of the need to list threatened and 
endangered species from State and Federal candidate lists would be 
reduced. (3) Economics: Economic returns from cultivated cropland use 
would cease. Economic returns from haying and grazing would be reduced. 
There could be a shift of local business opportunities toward visitor 
services. Economic returns from outdoor recreation would likely 
increase. (4) Water and wetlands: Agricultural drainage across project 
lands could continue under previously established, recorded or 
prescriptive rights. Natural wetlands and riparian areas associated 
with prairie would remain. Water quality (surface and underground 
supplies), as a leading environmental issue, could be 

[[Page 3457]]
improved. Wellhead protection for city/town domestic water supplies 
could be protected, even enhanced. (5) Tax revenues: Service fee title 
lands would be removed from county tax rolls resulting in tax revenue 
losses--could be offset by payments through the Refuge Revenue Sharing 
Act, and tax shortfall and offset provisions. Prairie tax credit or 
exemption could place added burden upon local governments. (6) 
Recreation: Opportunity would exist to balance consumptive and non-
consumptive recreational uses--increased recreation would occur. 
Historical and cultural sites and values would be important prairie 
values to protect. (7) Other: Approach to acquisition relative to use 
of condemnation, concern that landowners would not receive just-
compensation, and widespread fee purchase and government ownership 
could be perceived as a loss of local control. Concern of project size 
and cost to the taxpayer in relation to other priorities. Impact upon 
other programs and uncertainty as to how the project is to be 
integrated with other program efforts and lands currently protected.

Other Information

    The environmental review of this proposal will be conducted in 
accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.), NEPA regulations (40 
CFR 1500-1508), other appropriate Federal regulations, and Service 
procedures for compliance with those regulations.
    We estimate the Draft EIS will be available for public review by 
summer 1996.

    Dated: January 23, 1996.
Marvin E. Moriarty,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 96-1872 Filed 1-30-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M