[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 228 (Wednesday, November 26, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66474-66475]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-29304]


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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 Izembek National 
Wildlife Refuge, Cold Bay, 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 Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, 
which includes the Unimak Island unit of the Alaska Maritime National 
Wildlife Refuge and the North Creek and Pavlof units of Alaska 
Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge, headquartered in Cold Bay, 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., Cold Bay, King Cove, False Pass, Sand Point, and 
Nelson Lagoon) and in the city of Anchorage. The Draft and Final Plans 
and associated Environmental Impact Statement will be available for 
viewing and downloading at www.r7.fws.gov/planning.

ADDRESSES: Address comments, questions, and requests to Maggi Arend, 
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: Maggi Arend, Planning Team Leader, US 
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. The Plan guides management decisions and 
identifies Refuge goals, long-range objectives, and strategies for 
achieving

[[Page 66475]]

Refuge purposes. 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 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 Izembek National Wildlife Refuge (417,533 acres) and the North 
Creek (8,452 acres) and Pavlof (1,447,264 acres) units of the Alaska 
Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge are located at the westernmost tip 
of the Alaska Peninsula. The 1,008,697-acre Unimak Island (the 
easternmost Aleutian Island of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife 
Refuge) lies across the Isanotski Strait.
    To the north of the Izembek Refuge is the Bering Sea; to the south 
is the Pacific Ocean. The Alaska Peninsula is dominated by the rugged 
Aleutian Range, part of the Aleutian arc chain of volcanoes. Landforms 
include mountains, active volcanoes, U-shaped valleys, glacial 
moraines, low tundra wetlands, lakes, sand dunes, and lagoons. 
Elevations range from sea level to the 9,372-foot Shishaldin Volcano. 
Several major lagoons are within the Refuge boundary. These lagoons 
contain some of the world's largest eelgrass beds. The lagoons are 
under the jurisdiction of the State of Alaska. Izembek Lagoon is 
designated the Izembek State Game Refuge. Birds from all over the 
Arctic funnel through Izembek Refuge each fall on their way to 
wintering grounds throughout the world. More than 98 percent of the 
world's Pacific black brant use Izembek Lagoon as a staging area for 
their fall migration to Mexico. Other birds that use the Refuge include 
golden plovers, ruddy turnstones, western sandpipers, tundra swans, 
Steller's eiders and emperor geese. The Refuge also is home to large 
concentrations of brown bears and other large mammals such as caribou 
and wolves. The red, pink, chum, and silver salmon that use the waters 
within the refuge enrich the entire ecosystem with the nutrients they 
bring from the sea. The Refuge also has a rich human history, from 
ancient settlements of Alaska Natives, through the 18th and 19th 
century Russian fur traders, to a World War II outpost.
    The Alaska National Interests Land Conservation Act of 1980, 
Section 302(1) and 303(1 and 3) sets forth the following major purposes 
for which the Izembek Refuge was established and is to be managed:

    [Izembek] To conserve fish and wildlife populations and habitats 
in their natural diversity including, but not limited to, waterfowl, 
shorebirds and other migratory birds, brown bears and salmonoids;
    [Alaska Peninsula] To conserve fish and wildlife populations and 
habitats in their natural diversity including, but not limited to, 
brown bears, the Alaska Peninsula caribou herd, moose, sea otters 
and other marine mammals, shorebirds and other migratory birds, 
raptors, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons, and salmonoid 
and other fish;
    [Alaska Maritime] To conserve fish and wildlife populations and 
habitats in their natural diversity, including, but not limited to, 
marine mammals, marine birds and other migratory birds, the marine 
resources upon which they rely, bears, caribou, and other mammals;
    To fulfill the international treaty obligations of the United 
States with respect to fish and wildlife and their habitats;
    To provide, in a manner consistent with the purposes set forth 
above, the opportunity for continued subsistence uses by local 
residents; and
    To ensure, to the maximum extent practicable and in a manner 
consistent with the purposes set forth above, water quality and 
necessary water quantity within the Refuge; and
    [Alaska Maritime] To provide, in a manner consistent with the 
purposes set forth above, a program of national and international 
scientific research on marine resources.

    The Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Izembek 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. 03-29304 Filed 11-25-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-55-P