[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 112 (Monday, June 13, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34144-34146]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-11617]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


North Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge Complex

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

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Draft Comprehensive Conservation 
Plan and Environmental Assessment for the North Mississippi National 
Wildlife Refuge Complex, which consists of three national wildlife 
refuges--Coldwater River, Dahomey, and Tallahatchie, as well as a 
number of Farmers Home Administration tracts in the northern section of 
the Mississippi Delta.

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[[Page 34145]]

SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service announces that a Draft 
Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment for the 
Northern Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge Complex are available for 
review and comment. The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration 
Act of 1966, as amended by the National Wildlife Refuge System 
Improvement Act of 1997, requires the Service to develop a 
comprehensive conservation plan for each national wildlife refuge. The 
purpose in developing a comprehensive conservation plan is to provide 
refuge managers with a 15-year strategy for achieving refuge purposes 
and contributing toward the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge 
System, consistent with sound principles of fish and wildlife 
management, conservation, legal mandates, and Service policies. In 
addition to outlining broad management direction on conserving wildlife 
and their habitats, the plan identifies wildlife-dependent recreational 
opportunities available to the public, including opportunities for 
hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, wildlife photography, and 
environmental education and interpretation.
    Significant issues addressed in the draft plan include: threatened 
and endangered species; waterfowl management; neotropical migratory 
birds; bottomland hardwood restoration; agriculture; visitor services 
(e.g., hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, wildlife photography, 
and environmental education and interpretation); funding and staffing; 
cultural resources; land acquisition; and forest fragmentation.

DATES: A meeting will be held to present the plan to the public. 
Mailings, newspaper articles, and posters will be the avenues to inform 
the public of the date and time for the meeting. Individuals wishing to 
comment on the Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental 
Assessment for the North Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge Complex 
should do so within 45 days following the date of this notice.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the Draft Comprehensive Conservation 
Plan and Environmental Assessment should be addressed to the North 
Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 2776 Sunset Drive, 
Grenada, Mississippi 38901; telephone 662/226-8286. The plan and 
environmental assessment may also be accessed and download from the 
Service's Internet Web site http://southeast. fws.gov/planning/. 
Comments on the draft plan may be submitted to the above address or via 
electronic mail to [email protected]. Please include your name and 
return address in your Internet message. Our practice is to make 
comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available 
for public review during regular business hours. Individual respondents 
may request that we withhold their home addresses from the record, 
which we will honor to the extent allowable by law.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Service developed for alternatives for 
managing the Complex and chose Alternative D as the preferred 
alternative.

Alternatives

    The draft comprehensive conservation plan and environmental 
assessment evaluates the four alternatives for managing the Complex 
over the next 15 years. These alternatives are briefly described as 
follows:
    Alternative A. Existing Complex management and public outreach 
practices would be favored under this alternative. All management 
actions would be directed towards achieving the Complex's primary 
purposes, including (1) preserving wintering waterfowl habitat; (2) 
providing production habitat for wood ducks; (3) meeting the habitat 
conservation goals of national and international plans; and (4) 
preserving wetlands, all the while contributing to other national, 
regional, and state goals to protect and restore migratory birds, 
threatened and endangered species, and resident species. Refuge 
management programs would continue to be developed and implemented with 
limited baseline biological information. Active habitat management 
would be implemented through water level manipulations and moist-soil, 
cropland, and forest management designed to provide a diverse complex 
of habitats that meets the foraging, resting, and breeding requirements 
for a variety of species. The staff of the Complex would continue to 
restore and maintain existing wetland, open water, moist-soil, and 
bottomland hardwood forest habitats. Land would be acquired from 
willing sellers within the current 47,816-acre acquisition boundary.
    Hunting and fishing would continue to be major focuses of the 
public use program, with no expansion of current opportunities. Current 
restrictions or prohibitions would remain. Environmental education, 
wildlife observation, and wildlife photography would be accommodated at 
present levels. If funding becomes available, a visitor center and 
headquarters office would be constructed on Highway 82 at the Povall 
Tract.
    Alternative B. This alternative would emphasize significantly more 
public recreational uses while maintaining current habitat management. 
Any additional staff, emphasis, and resources would be directed to 
allow for more public activities. Current moist-soil, cropland, forest, 
and wetland management would continue. Hunting and fishing 
opportunities would be increased as funding and personnel allow.
    Auto tours, canoe trails, foot trails, interpretive trail(s), and 
observation towers and blinds would be added for environmental 
education, wildlife photography, and watchable wildlife programs. 
Additional staff would be used for developing and presenting both on- 
and off-site environmental education and interpretation programs. An 
outreach coordinator would be employed to serve the Complex.
    A visitor center and headquarters office would be constructed on 
Highway 82 at the Povall Tract and jointly shared with the Service's 
Private John Allen National Fish Hatchery. New sub-headquarters and 
visitor contact stations would be constructed at Coldwater River, 
Dahomey, and Tallahatchie Refuges.
    Land acquisition within the current acquisition boundaries would 
continue with emphasis on those lands that could provide additional 
public use opportunities. Any additional expansions, up to 10 percent 
of the current acquisition boundary, would focus on public use 
opportunities.
    Alternative C. Under this alternative, refuge lands would be 
intensively managed to provide high quality habitat for wildlife, 
particularly migratory birds. Any areas within the Complex with pumping 
capabilities (wells) and water control structures would be managed for 
moist-soil vegetation, or would be force-account farmed (with 100 
percent of crops left standing) to benefit migratory waterfowl. 
Cooperative farming fields would be planted in rice, milo, corn, or 
soybeans (in order of preference) and flooded during the late fall and 
winter.
    The wood duck next box program would be expanded on all three 
refuges and would extend onto Farmers Home Administration tracts with 
suitable brood habitat. On sites with permanent water, wood duck brood 
habitat would be developed to promote brood survival. Boxes would be 
cleaned and maintained regulatory to allow two and three broods per box 
per year.
    Primary emphasis would be placed on meeting objectives of the 
various step-

[[Page 34146]]

down plans and providing habitat for waterfowl and shorebirds. These 
habitats and their uses would be monitored on the refuge to ensure that 
goals and objectives were met. Population and habitat surveys would be 
conducted throughout the refuges to develop baseline data to determine 
initial population levels and habitat conditions. Staff would monitor 
changes over time.
    Wildlife-dependent recreation activities (e.g., hunting, fishing, 
wildlife observation, wildlife photography, and environmental education 
and interpretation) would be allowed, but only when and where they do 
not detract from, or conflict with, wildlife management activities and 
objectives. Infrastructures on the refuges (e.g., trails and blinds) 
would be developed primarily to conduct wildlife management activities. 
A visitor center and headquarters office would be constructed on 
Highway 82 at the Povall Tract.
    Under this alternative, the Complex would continue to seek from 
willing seller lands within the present acquisition boundary. Highest 
priority would be given to those lands adjacent to existing refuge 
tracts and those lands supporting unique habitats. Additionally, the 
Complex would concentrate all future off-refuge partnerships on 
promoting more intensive wildlife management on privately owned lands. 
Personnel priorities would include employing a biologist and/or 
technician for the Complex and a forester to conduct forest management 
activities at Dahomey Refuge.
    Alternative D. The Service's planning team has identified 
Alternative D as the preferred alternative. This alternative was 
developed based on public input and the best professional judgment of 
the planning team. The objectives and strategies presented in the draft 
plan were developed as a direct result of the selection of Alternative 
D.
    Alternative D represents a combination and/or compromise between 
Alternative B (Public Use Emphasis) and Alternative C (Wildlife 
Management Emphasis). Whereas these two alternatives seek to maximize 
either expanded public use or expanded wildlife management 
opportunities, Alternative D seeks to optimize the benefits of the 
Complex to wildlife and people.
    Under Alternative D, refuge lands would be more intensively managed 
than at present to provide high quality habitat for wildlife, 
particularly migratory birds. Any areas within the Complex with pumping 
capabilities (wells) and water control structures would be managed for 
moist-soil vegetation or would be force-account farmed (with 100 
percent of crops left standing) to benefit migratory waterfowl. 
Cooperative farming fields would be planted in rice, milo, corn, or 
soybeans (in order of preference) and flooded during the late fall and 
winter.
    The wood duck nest box program would be expanded on all three 
refuges and may extend onto some Farmers Home Administration tracts 
that have suitable brood habitat. Boxes would be cleaned and maintained 
regularly to allow two and three broods per box per year.
    Increased emphasis would be placed on meeting objectives of various 
step-down plans providing habitat for waterfowl and shorebirds. These 
habitats and their uses would be monitored on the refuge to ensure that 
goals and objectives were met. Population and habitat surveys would be 
conducted throughout the refuges to develop baseline data to determine 
initial population levels and habitat conditions. Staff would monitor 
changes over time.
    This alternative would encourage more public recreational uses even 
while intensifying current habitat management. Additional staff, 
emphasis, and resources would be more or less evenly divided between 
enhancing public use opportunities and wildlife/habitat management. 
Hunting and fishing opportunities would be increased as funding and 
personnel allow. Moist-soil, cropland, forest, and wetland management 
would also intensify to the extent permitted by funding and staffing 
limits.
    An auto tour, a canoe trial, one or more foot trail(s) and/or 
interpretative trail(s), an observation tower, and one or more blinds 
would be added for environmental education, photography, and watchable 
wildlife programs. Staff may be added for developing and presenting 
both on- and off-site environmental education and interpretation 
programs.
    Under Alternative D, the Complex would continue to seek from 
willing sellers lands within the present acquisition boundary, 
expanding Complex acreage by up to an additional 10 percent of the 
current acquisition boundary. Highest priority would be given to those 
lands adjacent to existing refuge tracts and those lands supporting 
unique habitats or offering wildlife-dependent public use 
opportunities. Additionally, the Complex would concentrate future off-
refuge partnerships on promoting more intensive wildlife management on 
privately owned lands.
    Personnel priorities would include employing additional law 
enforcement offices for the Complex, an outreach coordinator to serve 
the Complex as a whole, a biologist and/or technician for each refuge 
to include the Farmers Home Administration tracts, and a forester to 
conduct forest management activities at Dahomey Refuge.
    A visitor center and headquarters office would be constructed on 
Highway 82 at the Povall Tract and jointly shared with the Service's 
Private John Allen National Fish Hatchery. New sub-headquarters and 
visitor contact stations would be constructed at Coldwater River, 
Dahomey, and Tallahatchie Refuges.

    Authority: This notice is published under the authority of the 
National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, Public Law 
105-57.

    Dated: March 14, 2005.
Cynthia K. Dihner,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 05-11617 Filed 6-12-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M