[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 114 (Monday, June 15, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32676-32677]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-15802]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Notice of Intent (Notice) To Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) on the Development of a Comprehensive Conservation Plan 
for Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Complex, Churchill and 
Storey Counties, Nevada, and a Boundary Revision for Stillwater NWR, 
Churchill County

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service is preparing an EIS for a 
comprehensive conservation plan for Stillwater NWR Complex and an 
associated boundary revision for Stillwater NWR. Stillwater NWR Complex 
currently consists of Stillwater NWR, Fallon NWR, Stillwater Wildlife 
Management Area (WMA), and Anaho Island NWR.

DATES: To ensure that the Service has adequate time to evaluate and 
incorporate suggestions and other input into the planning process, 
comments must be received by July 17, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments, or requests to be added to the 
mailing list, to the following address: Stillwater NWR Complex CCP/
Boundary Revision, c/o Refuge Manager, Stillwater National Wildlife 
Refuge Complex, P.O. Box 1236, Fallon, Nevada 89407, telephone (702) 
423-5128.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The first notification of the intent to 
prepare an EIS on the development of a comprehensive conservation plan 
for Stillwater NWR Complex, including a boundary revision for 
Stillwater NWR, was published in the Federal Register on March 14, 1997 
in a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS and hold public scoping 
workshops on water resources management proposals in the Truckee and 
Carson Rivers, Churchill, Douglas, Lyon, Storey, and Washoe Counties, 
Nevada (Pages 12245-12246, Volume 62, Number 50). Comprehensive 
conservation planning at the Stillwater NWR Complex, including the 
Stillwater NWR boundary revision, was one of four Federal actions 
covered in the March 14, 1997 Notice for this Department of the 
Interior EIS. Scoping meetings were held on March 10, 11, and 19, 1997 
in Fallon, Fernley, and Reno, Nevada, respectively, to identify 
potential issues related to various water resource management proposals 
in the Truckee and Carson River drainages, including the development of 
a comprehensive conservation plan and boundary revision for Stillwater 
NWR Complex. During March, April, and July 1997, a total of six 
additional open-house workshops were conducted in Fallon and Reno 
specifically to address the comprehensive conservation plan and 
boundary revision. A number of other meetings have been held with the 
Nevada Division of Wildlife, Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, Pyramid Lake 
Paiute Tribe, Churchill County, City of Fallon, and various 
organizations and individuals to gain additional information about 
issues relevant to the comprehensive conservation plan and boundary 
revision. Comments received from the public during these meetings 
constitute the bulk of the public scoping comments being used by the 
Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare a separate draft EIS on 
comprehensive conservation planning and boundary revisions for 
Stillwater NWR Complex, which will no longer be analyzed in a 
Department of the Interior EIS on water resources management proposals 
in the Truckee and Carson Rivers.
    Wetlands on Stillwater NWR and Stillwater WMA are located at the 
terminus of the Carson River. They are major components of the Lahontan 
Valley wetland ecosystem. Stillwater NWR, Stillwater WMA, and Fallon 
NWR also encompass significant upland habitats, including parts of a 
25-mile-long sand dune complex. Anaho Island NWR is located on Pyramid 
Lake within the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, at the terminus of the 
Truckee River in Storey County, Nevada.

Comprehensive Conservation Plan

    A comprehensive conservation plan is being developed for the 
Stillwater NWR Complex in accordance with the National Wildlife Refuge 
System Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 6688dd et seq.), as 
amended. This act requires the Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare 
comprehensive conservation plans for all refuges in the Refuge System. 
The comprehensive conservation plan for the Stillwater NWR Complex will 
cover a 15-year planning period and will identify goals, objectives, 
strategies, and a monitoring program for achieving refuge purposes and 
contributing to the mission of the Refuge System. Care will be taken to 
ensure consistency with the National Wildlife Refuge System 
Administration Act, as amended; other applicable laws and international 
treaties; Fish and Wildlife Service policy; and sound principles of 
biodiversity conservation and other aspects of natural resources 
management. The mission of the Refuge System ``is to administer a 
national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, 
and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant 
resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit 
of present and future generations of Americans.''
    Stillwater NWR and Stillwater WMA were originally established in 
1948 as part of an agreement (Tripartite Agreement) between the Fish 
and Wildlife Service, Nevada Division of Wildlife, and the Truckee-
Carson Irrigation District. Stillwater WMA, which was established for 
the co-equal purposes of conserving wildlife and public hunting, will 
cease to exist after November 26, 1998, when the 50-year Tripartite 
Agreement expires. The Tripartite Agreement also specified that 
livestock grazing and muskrat trapping were to be managed commensurate 
with wildlife conservation and hunting. Anaho Island was originally 
established in 1913 under Executive Order 1819 as a preserve and 
breeding ground for native birds. Fallon NWR was established in 1931 
for the purpose of providing a refuge and breeding ground for birds and 
other wildlife.
    The Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Settlement Act of 1990 (Title 
II of Public Law 101-618) enlarged Stillwater NWR by reducing the size 
of Stillwater WMA and directed the Secretary of the Interior to manage 
Stillwater NWR for the following purposes:
    (A) restoring and maintaining natural biological diversity within 
the refuge;
    (B) conserving and managing fish, wildlife, and their habitat 
within the refuge;
    (C) fulfilling international treaty obligations with respect to 
fish and wildlife; and
    (D) providing opportunities for scientific research, environmental

[[Page 32677]]

education, and wildlife-oriented recreation.
    Public Law 101-618 also directed the Secretary to manage Anaho 
Island for the benefit and protection of colonial nesting species and 
other migratory birds.
    The comprehensive conservation plan will include strategies for 
managing water and water rights that the Fish and Wildlife Service is 
acquiring through its water-rights acquisition program that was 
authorized and directed by Public Law 101-618. In November 1996, an EIS 
was completed and a Record of Decision was signed for cooperative 
efforts to acquire water rights to sustain, on a long-term average, 
approximately 25,000 acres of primary wetlands habitat in Lahontan 
Valley, including wetlands on Stillwater NWR and Stillwater WMA. To 
date, about 27,000 acre-feet of water rights have been acquired by Fish 
and Wildlife Service, State of Nevada, and Nevada Waterfowl Association 
to supplement agricultural drainwater and intermittent controlled 
releases from Lahontan Reservoir. Given the mandate to restore natural 
biological diversity within the refuge, natural hydrologic patterns and 
their applications to management are being explored.
    The comprehensive conservation plan will guide the management of 
public use on the Stillwater NWR Complex in accordance with existing 
laws. These laws require that refuge planning efforts explore 
opportunities for hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and 
photography, and environmental education and interpretation, to the 
extent these activities do not interfere with or detract from (i.e., 
are compatible with) achieving the purposes of individual refuge units 
and the mission of the Refuge System. Compatibility of public uses will 
be evaluated as part of the comprehensive planning process, in 
accordance with the requirement that such determinations must be 
consistent with sound principles of fish and wildlife management, 
available scientific information, and applicable laws.
    The comprehensive conservation plan comprises the following 
programs: wildlife and habitat management, including management of 
acquired water, control of undesirable species, prescribed burning, and 
livestock grazing; public use management, including the management of 
areas open to different types of public uses, and the management of 
hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and photography, and 
environmental interpretation and education; cultural resource 
management; law enforcement; facilities management; and administration.
    Several alternative management scenarios are being developed and 
evaluated. The following draft goals for the Stillwater NWR Complex 
were developed based primarily on establishing authorities, the Refuge 
System mission, and other provisions of applicable laws, international 
treaties, and principles of natural resource conservation.

Stillwater NWR

    (1) Conserve and manage fish, wildlife, and their habitats to 
restore and maintain natural biological diversity.
    (2) Fulfill obligations of international treaties and other 
international agreements with respect to fish and wildlife.
    (3) Provide opportunities for scientific research, environmental 
education, and wildlife-dependent recreation that are compatible with 
refuge purposes.

Fallon NWR

    (1) Provide high-quality sanctuary and nesting habitat for 
migratory birds.
    (2) Restore and maintain natural biological diversity.
    (3) Provide opportunities for scientific research, environmental 
education, and wildlife-dependent recreation that are compatible with 
refuge purposes.

Anaho Island NWR

    (1) Protect and perpetuate colonial nesting birds and other 
migratory birds.
    (2) Restore and maintain natural biological diversity.
    Major categories of issues identified to date include wildlife and 
habitat protection and enhancement, including concerns with respect to 
emphasizing natural biological diversity; opportunities for wildlife-
dependent recreational uses; continued protection of cultural 
resources; and potential effects on local agriculture, irrigation 
project, and economy. Major, on-refuge environmental problems to be 
addressed in the comprehensive conservation plan include inadequate 
water supplies and timing of water inflows, dominance and spread of 
invasive nonnative plants, contaminants, and the effects of livestock 
grazing on biological communities. Major public use issues to be 
addressed include the balancing of compatible wildlife-dependent 
recreational uses (including concerns with respect to a legally-
required shift from managing the hunting program as a co-equal top 
priority with wildlife conservation to managing hunting as one of 
several recreational uses that are secondary to wildlife conservation), 
inadequate facilities to provide a broad spectrum of high-quality 
experiences for refuge visitors and for environmental education 
activities, and the compatibility and appropriateness of camping and 
other nonwildlife-dependent recreational uses.

Stillwater NWR Boundary Revision

    Public Law 101-618 authorized the Secretary of the Interior to 
recommend to Congress boundary revisions to Stillwater NWR that may be 
appropriate to carry out the purposes of the refuge and to facilitate 
the protection and enhancement of Lahontan Valley wetland habitat. It 
also authorized the Secretary to recommend the transfer of any Bureau 
of Reclamation withdrawn public lands within existing wildlife use 
areas in Lahontan Valley (e.g., Stillwater WMA) to the Fish and 
Wildlife Service for addition to the National Wildlife Refuge System. 
Furthermore, it authorized the identification of lands in Lahontan 
Valley currently under the jurisdiction of the Fish and Wildlife 
Service that no longer warrant continued status as units of the Refuge 
System. Several alternative boundary revisions are being analyzed.

Tentative Schedule

    Estimated dates for completing an EIS that evaluates the potential 
impacts of implementing a comprehensive conservation plan for 
Stillwater NWR Complex and revising the boundary of Stillwater NWR are 
as follows:
Supplemental Scoping Period--July 17, 1998
Draft EIS Distributed to Public--November 1998
Public Review/Comment Period November 1998--February 1999
Final EIS filed with EPA--August 1999
Implementation of the Decision--September 1999

    Date: June 8, 1998.
Thomas J. Dwyer,
Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 98-15802 Filed 6-12-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P