[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 228 (Wednesday, November 26, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66476-66477]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-29303]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Notice of Intent To Revise a Comprehensive Conservation Plan and 
Associated Environmental Impact Statement for the Kenai National 
Wildlife Refuge, Soldotna, AK

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the 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 revise the 
Comprehensive Conservation Plan (Plan) and an associated Environmental 
Impact Statement, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act and 
its implementing regulations, for the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, 
Soldotna, Alaska. The Service is furnishing this notice in compliance 
with the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as 
amended, and with Service planning policy to advise other agencies and 
the public of our intentions and to obtain suggestions and information 
on the scope of issues to be addressed in the environmental documents.
    Special mailings, newspaper articles, and other media announcements 
will inform people of opportunities to provide written input throughout 
the planning process. Public meetings will be held in communities near 
the Refuge (e.g., Cooper Landing, Soldotna, Seward, and Homer) and in 
the city of Anchorage. The Draft and Final Plans and associated 
Environmental Impact Statement will be available for viewing and 
downloading at http://www.r7.fws.gov/planning.

ADDRESSES: Address comments, questions, and requests to Rob Campellone, 
Planning Team Leader, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1011 East Tudor 
Rd., MS-231, Anchorage, AK 99503, or [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Rob Campellone, Planning Team Leader, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1011 East Tudor Rd. MS-231, Anchorage, 
AK 99503 or [email protected]. Additional information 
concerning the Plan can be found at http://www.r7.fws.gov/planning and 
concerning the Refuge at http://refuges.fws.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By Federal law (National Wildlife Refuge 
System Administration Act of 1966, as amended by the National Wildlife 
Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (Administration Act) [16 U.S.C. 
668dd-668ee]), all lands within the National Wildlife Refuge System are 
to be managed in accordance with an approved Comprehensive Conservation 
Plan. Section 304(g) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation 
Act (Pub. L. 96-487, 94 Stat. 2371) also directs that these plans be 
prepared. During the planning process, the planning team reviews a wide 
range of Refuge administrative requirements, including conservation of 
the Refuge's fish and wildlife populations and habitats in their 
natural diversity; facilitation of subsistence use by local residents 
and access for traditional recreational activities; and conservation of 
resource values, including cultural resources, wilderness, and wild 
rivers.
    The final revised Plan will detail the programs, activities, and 
measures

[[Page 66477]]

necessary to best administer the Refuge to protect these values and to 
fulfill Refuge purposes. The Comprehensive Conservation Plan and 
associated Environmental Impact Statement will describe and evaluate a 
range of reasonable alternatives and the anticipated impacts of each. 
Public input into the planning process is essential.
    The Plan will provide other agencies and the public with 
information to facilitate understanding of the desired conditions for 
the Refuge and how the Service will implement management strategies.
    The Service will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement in 
accordance with procedures for implementing the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321-4370d).
    The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge covers approximately two million 
acres, roughly equivalent to the states of Delaware and Rhode Island 
combined. It occupies much of the Kenai Peninsula and is readily 
accessible from the city of Anchorage, which contains 41.5 percent of 
the state's population. The Kenai Refuge consists of the western slopes 
of the Kenai Mountains and forested lowlands bordering Cook Inlet. The 
Kenai Mountains, with their glaciers, rise to more than 6,500 feet. 
Treeless alpine and subalpine habitats are the home of mountain goats, 
Dall sheep, caribou, wolverine, marmots, and ptarmigan. Boreal forests 
extend to 1,800 feet above sea level and are composed of spruce and 
birch forests intermingled with hundreds of lakes. Boreal forests are 
home to moose, wolves, black and brown bears, lynx, snowshoe hares, and 
numerous species of neotropical birds such as olive-sided flycatchers, 
myrtle warblers, and ruby-crowned kinglets. At sea level, the Refuge 
encompasses the last remaining pristine major salt water estuary on the 
Kenai Peninsula: the Chickaloon River Flats. The flats provide a major 
migratory staging area and nesting habitat for thousands of shorebirds 
and waterfowl throughout the spring, summer, and fall. The flats are 
also used as a haul-out area by harbor seals, and thousands of salmon 
migrate up the Chickaloon River system each year to spawn.
    The Alaska National Interests Land Conservation Act of 1980 
(Section 303[4]) sets forth the following major purposes for which the 
Kenai Refuge was established and is to be managed:

    (i) To conserve fish and wildlife populations and habitats in their 
natural diversity including, but not limited to, moose, bear, mountain 
goats, Dall sheep, wolves and other furbearers, salmonoids and other 
fish, waterfowl and other migratory and nonmigratory birds;
    (ii) To fulfill the international treaty obligations of the United 
States with respect to fish and wildlife and their habitats;
    (iii) To ensure, to the maximum extent practicable and in a manner 
consistent with the purposes set forth in paragraph (i), water quality 
and necessary water quantity within the Refuge;
    (iv) To provide in a manner consistent with subparagraphs (i) and 
(ii), opportunities for scientific research, interpretation, 
environmental education, and land management training; and
    (v) To provide, in a manner compatible with these purposes, 
opportunities for fish and wildlife-oriented recreation.
    The Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Kenai National Wildlife 
Refuge was completed in 1985. It is being revised consistent with 
Section 304(g) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, 
the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, and U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service planning policy.

    Dated: November 7, 2003.
Rowan Gould,
Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska.
[FR Doc. 03-29303 Filed 11-25-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P