[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 11, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18348-18350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-3443]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Notice of Availability of the Draft Comprehensive Conservation 
Plan and Environmental Assessment for D'Arbonne National Wildlife 
Refuge in Ouachita and Union Parishes, LA

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service announces that a Draft 
Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment for 
D'Arbonne 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, plans 
identify 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: Bottomland 
hardwood forest management and restoration, integrity of mixed pine and 
hardwood forests, invasive plants, waterfowl management, neotropical 
migratory birds, species of concern, and level of visitor services.

DATES: An open house will be held to provide clarification and 
explanation of the plan to the public. Mailings, a news release to 
newspapers and radio, and flyers will be used to inform the public of 
the date and time for the open house. Individuals should comment on the 
Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment for 
D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge no later than May 11, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the draft plan and environmental 
assessment should be addressed to he Planning Team Leader, D'Arbonne 
National Wildlife Refuge, 11372 Highway 143, Farmerville, Louisiana 
71241; or by calling 318/726-4222, extension 5. The plan and 
environmental assessment may also be accessed and downloaded 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 Lindy [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 three alternatives for 
managing the refuge and chose Alternative A as the preferred 
alternative.

Alternatives

    Alternative A, the preferred alternative, emphasizes management 
actions that mimic or enhance natural ecological processes. The 
biological program would be enhanced with an increase in inventory and 
monitoring programs so that adaptive management could be more 
effectively implemented. Adaptive management would primarily benefit 
migratory bird management and forest management. Migratory bird use and 
nesting success on the refuge would be closely evaluated utilizing 
research partnerships. Partnerships would be developed to establish 
scientifically valid protocols and collaborative research projects for 
data that would

[[Page 18349]]

provide information on flora and fauna response to habitat management. 
Upland forest management would focus on restoring the biological 
integrity of a mixed pine and hardwood forest by reintroducing a more 
historic fire regime, while still providing minimum red-cockaded 
woodpecker habitat as required in the recovery guidelines. A historic 
fire regime will ultimately benefit red-cockaded woodpeckers by 
creating a more herbaceous understory. Bottomland hardwood forest 
management would include an increase in inventory data that would 
better define current forest condition, and allow an increase in the 
number of acres treated. Treatment would open the canopy cover (i.e., 
decrease basal area) and increase understory vegetation. The open field 
would modify the natural ecological process in order to maintain it in 
a grassy field unit and moist-soil unit for this specialized habitat 
required for high priority species. Water control structures and 
pumping capability would be maintained to enhance moist-soil management 
for the benefit of wintering waterfowl. Invasive species would be 
mapped and protocols established for a more intensive control effort. 
Partnerships would continue to be fostered for several biological 
programs, hunting regulations, law enforcement issues, and research 
projects.
    Public use would be similar to current management. Deer hunting 
would be allowed while monitoring the availability, diversity, and deer 
use of understory woody and herbaceous plants. This would allow the 
refuge to better understand the pressure being exerted on the habitat, 
and therefore make better habitat and harvest recommendations. Youths 
would be allowed to hunt turkey. Fishing events and boat launch 
facilities would be improved. Environmental education, wildlife 
observation, and wildlife photography would be accommodated at present 
levels, with minimal disturbance to wildlife and habitat. An enhanced, 
interpretive nature trail, interpretive panels, and ``check-out kits'' 
for teachers would be developed. Law enforcement would work to gain 
better compliance with refuge regulations.
    Alternative B would focus resources toward obtaining biological 
information derived from inventorying and monitoring, while providing 
an artificial habitat for a diversity of wildlife that emphasizes red-
cockaded woodpeckers. Funding and staffing would be directed to these 
priorities, resulting in a reduction of visitor services. The 
biological program would be enhanced for extensive baseline 
inventorying and monitoring. Partners would be sought to help with the 
information needs for current condition of refuge habitat and 
monitoring for changes in wildlife trends. Additional research projects 
would be implemented by granting opportunities and partnerships with 
other agencies and universities. Upland forest management would focus 
on red-cockaded woodpecker guidelines for minimizing hardwoods and 
maintaining a grassy understory in the entire mixed-pine and upland 
forests, resulting in an intensive prescribed burning program and the 
monitoring of forest conditions. Bottomland hardwood forest management 
would be developed on an intensive inventory to define current 
condition, and management would be limited to monitoring natural 
successional changes. The open field would be allowed to go through 
natural succession to bottomland hardwood forest and the moist-soil 
unit and open grassy field unit would not be maintained. Invasive plant 
control would become a priority for the foresters and biologists to 
establish baseline information of location and density and protocols 
for control. Partnerships would continue to be fostered for several 
biological programs, hunting regulations, law enforcement issues, and 
research projects.
    Public use would be limited, with custodial-level maintenance. 
Public use would be monitored more closely for impacts to wildlife, 
and, with negative impacts, new restrictions or closures would result. 
Deer hunting would be allowed when data were available to demonstrate 
the population was exceeding the habitat carrying capacity and a 
population reduction was necessary. An extensive survey for monitoring 
the deer population and its association with the habitat condition 
would be implemented. Several species (e.g., quail, woodcock, feral 
hogs, and coyotes) would no longer be hunted due to low population 
counts and the cost of providing oversight and law enforcement to 
conduct the hunts. Fishing would continue as under current management 
on Bayou D'Arbonne, but the area of overflow in the open field would be 
closed. Fishing would not be allowed during the wintering period and 
would be monitored for future impacts. Environmental education, 
wildlife observation, and wildlife photography would be accommodated at 
present levels, but public access would be limited to July-October and 
February-April to minimize disturbance to migratory birds.
    Alternative C would continue current management and public use. 
Refuge management programs would continue to be developed and 
implemented, with limited baseline biological information and limited 
monitoring. Wildlife surveys would still be completed for presence and 
absence of species and to alert refuge staff to large-scale changes in 
population trends. Cooperation with partners for monitoring waterfowl, 
eagle, fish, and deer herd surveys would continue. Upland forest 
management would continue focusing on red-cockaded woodpecker 
guidelines for minimizing hardwoods and maintaining a grassy understory 
in a portion of the mixed pine and upland forests. Bottomland hardwood 
forest management would continue at current rate of thinning for a 
closed canopy forest and at retaining as much water tupelo and bald 
cypress as possible. The open field area, where flooding occurs from 
overflow of Bayou D'Arbonne, would be maintained as a moist-soil unit, 
with mowing outside of the levee to provide an open grassy field. A 
third of the open field area would continue on natural reforestation. 
Management for invasive plants would continue with opportunistic 
mapping and treatment. Partnerships would continue with Louisiana 
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for several biological programs, 
hunting regulations, and law enforcement issues. The Partners for Fish 
and Wildlife Program would still develop projects with interested 
parties for carbon sequestration and invasive plant control.
    Hunting and fishing would continue to be the priority focus of 
public use on the refuge, with no expansion of current opportunities. 
Environmental education, wildlife observation, and wildlife photography 
would be accommodated at present levels, with a few interpretive sites 
added.
    D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1975, is located 
within the Lower Mississippi River floodplain in north Louisiana, 
approximately 6 miles north of West Monroe, Louisiana. The refuge's 
17,421 acres include deep overflow swamp, bottomland hardwood forest, 
and upland mixed-pine/hardwoods in Union and Ouachita Parishes. 
D'Arbonne refuge provides habitat for thousands of wintering waterfowl, 
wading and waterbirds, and year-round habitat for nesting wood ducks, 
squirrel, deer, river otters, and raccoon. Hunting and fishing 
opportunities are permitted on most areas of the refuge, which is open 
year-round for wildlife observation, nature photography, and hiking.


[[Page 18350]]


    Authority: This notice is published under the authority of the 
National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1977, Public Law 
105-57.

    Dated: January 23, 2006.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 06-3443 Filed 4-10-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M