[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 24 (Monday, February 6, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6089-6090]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-1047]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION:  Notice of availability of the Draft Comprehensive Conservation 
Plan and Environmental Assessment for Pea Island National Wildlife 
Refuge in Dare County, NC.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that a Draft Comprehensive Conservation 
Plan and Environmental Assessment for Pea Island National Wildlife 
Refuge 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.

DATES: Open house style meeting will be held in early 2006 in Hatteras 
Island and Manteo, North Carolina, to present the plan to the public. 
Mailings, newspaper articles, and postings on the refuge Web site will 
be the avenues to inform the public of the dates and times of the 
meetings. Individuals wishing to comment on the Draft Comprehensive 
Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment for Pea Island National 
Wildlife Refuge should do so no later than March 8, 2006. Public 
comments were requested, considered, and incorporated throughout the 
planning process in numerous ways. Public outreach has included scoping 
meetings, a review of the biological program, an ecosystem planning 
newsletter, and a Federal Register notice.

ADDRESSES:  Request for copies of the draft comprehensive conservation 
plan and environmental assessment should be addressed to Bonnie 
Strawser, P.O. Box 1969, Manteo, North Carolina 27954. Comments on the 
draft plan may also be submitted via electronic mail to: [email protected]. 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 allowed by law.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Service analyzed five alternatives for 
future management and chose Alternative 2, an alternative that 
addresses the refuge's highest priorities.
    Proposed goals for the refuge include:
     Protect, maintain, and enhance healthy and viable 
populations of indigenous migratory birds, wildlife, fish, and plants, 
including Federal and State threatened and endangered species.
     Restore, maintain, and enhance the health and biodiversity 
of barrier island upland and wetland habitats to ensure optimum 
ecological productivity.
     Provide the public with safe, quality wildlife-dependent 
recreational and educational opportunities that focus on barrier island 
wildlife and habitats of the refuge.
     Continue to participate in local efforts to sustain 
economic health through nature-based tourism.
     Protect refuge resources by limiting the adverse impacts 
of human activities and development.
     Acquire and manage adequate funding, human resources, 
facilities, equipment, and infrastructure to accomplish the other 
refuge goals.
    Also available for review are draft compatibility determinations 
for

[[Page 6090]]

recreational hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, wildlife 
photography, and environmental education and interpretation.

Alternatives

    Alternative 1 proposes to maintain the status quo. The refuge would 
manage very intensively the water levels of the impoundments and the 
vegetation to create optimum habitat for migrating waterfowl, 
shorebirds, wading birds, and aquatic organisms. It would manage 
marshes with prescribed fire. The staff would survey sea turtles, 
waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds on a routine basis. The refuge 
would allow five of the six priority public use activities: Fishing, 
wildlife observation, wildlife photography, and environmental education 
and interpretation. The staff would conduct extensive environmental 
education and interpretation programs with the assistance of 25,000 
hours of volunteer service every year. There would be one staff public 
use specialist stationed at the refuge. Staff from the Alligator River 
National Wildlife Refuge would manage the refuge, administer budgets 
and contracts, maintain the facilities, manage impoundment and marsh 
habitats, and conduct wildlife surveys.
    Alternative 2 proposes moderate program increases. The refuge would 
continue to manage very intensively the water levels of the 
impoundments and the vegetation to create optimum habitat for migrating 
waterfowl, shorebirds, wading birds, and aquatic organisms. It would 
manage for fall shorebird habitat. It would also manage marshes with 
prescribed fire. The staff would survey a wider range of wildlife on 
the refuge, adding regular surveys of land birds. The refuge would 
continue to allow five of the six priority public use activities, but 
would have the capacity to increase the number of opportunities. The 
staff would continue to conduct extensive environmental education and 
interpretation programs with the assistance of 30,000 hours of 
volunteer service every year. There would be five staff members 
stationed at the refuge, including an assistance refuge manager, 
biologist, two public use specialists, and a maintenance worker. Staff 
from the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge would still 
administer budgets and contracts and manage impoundment and marsh 
habitats.
    Alternative 3 proposes optimum program increases. The refuge would 
continue to manage very intensively the water levels of the 
impoundments and the vegetation to create optimum habitat for migrating 
waterfowl, shorebirds, wading birds, and aquatic organisms. It would 
manage for fall shorebird habitat. It would also manager marshes with 
prescribed fire. The staff would survey a wider range of wildlife on 
the refuge, adding regular surveys of land birds, wading birds, 
mammals, invertebrates, reptiles, and amphibians. The refuge would 
continue to allow five of the six priority public use activities, but 
would have the capacity to increase the number of opportunities. The 
staff would continue to conduct extensive environmental education and 
interpretation programs with the assistance of 35,000 hours of 
volunteer service every year. There would be twelve staff members 
stationed at the refuge, including an assistant refuge manager, 
biologist, three biological technicians, two public use specialists, 
and five maintenance workers. Staff from the Alligator River National 
Wildlife Refuge would still administer budgets and contracts and manage 
marsh habitat.
    Alternative 4 assumes vehicular access to the refuge on a paved 
road would be eliminated from the north, but access would be maintained 
from the south as far north as the visitor center. The alternative 
assumes that natural processes would dominate the area north of the 
visitor center and habitat for colonial nesting shorebirds would 
increase. The refuge would continue to manage impoundments and marshes. 
The staff would survey all wildlife on the refuge. The refuge would 
provide public use opportunities, but the number of visitors would 
decrease due to the limited access. Staffing would be the same as 
Alternative 3.
    Alternative 5 assumes access to the refuge on a paved road would be 
totally eliminated. The Service would provide other means of accessing 
the refuge. The alternative assumes that natural processes would 
dominate the entire refuge and habitat for colonial nesting shorebirds 
would increase substantially. The refuge would continue to manage 
impoundments and marshes. The staff would survey all wildlife on the 
refuge. The refuge would provide public use opportunities, but the 
number of visitors would decrease due to the limited access. Staffing 
would be the same as Alternative 3.

Actions Common to All Alternatives

    All five alternatives share the following concepts and techniques 
for achieving the goals of the refuge:
     Cooperating with State and Federal agencies, and non-
government organizations, to evaluate the effects of dredging on Oregon 
Inlet and placement of dredge material on the refuge beaches;
     Cooperating with State and Federal agencies, and non-
government organizations, to evaluate the effects of the maintenance of 
North Carolina Highway 12 on the refuge resources;
     Utilizing volunteers to execute the public use, 
biological, and maintenance programs on the refuge;
     Providing extensive public use opportunities in fishing, 
environmental education, interpretation, wildlife observation, and 
wildlife photography;
     Monitoring populations of waterfowl, shorebirds, and 
wading birds, and vegetation in the refuge impoundments;
     Maintaining the vegetation in the marsh with prescribed 
fire; and
     Encouraging scientific research on the refuge.
    Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, in northeastern North 
Carolina, consists of 5,000 acres, or which 1,375 acres are salt marsh, 
790 acres are managed wetlands (impoundments), 565 acres are maritime 
scrub/shrub, and 450 acres are dune. These habitats support a variety 
of wildlife species including waterfowl, shorebirds, wading birds, sea 
turtles, and neotropical migratory songbirds.
    The refuge hosts more than two million visitors annually, who 
participate in fishing, wildlife observation, wildlife photography, and 
environmental education and interpretation.

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

    Dated: April 1, 2005.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Acting Regional Director.


    Note: This document was received at the office of the Federal 
Register February 1, 2006.


[FR Doc. 06-1047 Filed 2-3-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M